You are currently reviewing an older revision of this page.
The United States of America is the world’s fourth largest producer of wine and claims the world’s sixth highest acreage of land under vine.
California produces approximately 90% of all American wine, followed by Washington, New York, and Oregon. Due to a large population in comparison with traditional wine-producing countries, the US surpassed France in early 2011 to become the world’s largest wine consumer. Despite this, the country only ranked 62nd in per capita consumption by 2016, as only 30% of the populace identifies themselves as wine drinkers. The forecast remains positive, for, unlike Europe, where wine consumption is generally decreasing with newer generations, younger Americans are driving an increase in consumption. Asian markets are rapidly developing, and yet the US continues to provide the world’s most substantial market for fine wines. Further, over the past 20 years, powerful American critics have become a cause célèbre, wielding influence on winemakers and markets worldwide.
BACK TO TOP
In the early 9th century, the Viking Leiv Eriksson brought his boat aground at L’Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland, Canada, as the first European to definitively set foot upon the North American continent. He christened his discovery “Vinland”—a possible reference to the meadows before him, or, as recounted in the 13th century Saga of the Greenlanders, a tribute to the wealth of native grapevines. Unlike South America, several species of wild grapevine awaited the first colonists of North America, including Vitis labrusca