Perhaps I should have read the New York Times before making my prediction yesterday that wine consumption would decrease as consumers gravitate to lower priced wines. As they published Wednesday, consumers are indeed selecting lower cost bottles but are purchasing more for about the same total dollar amount as a year ago. This bodes well for wine merchants and producers of lower priced “value wines” in the $10-15 price range. It seems consumers are more comfortable with three $15 bottles than one $50 bottle.

The piece speculates on the reasons for this but I think it’s likely that people have stopped going to restaurants and are cooking more of their meals at home. It’s good to see wine being thought of as an affordable luxury even if consumers are trading down in price.

So I could be half-wrong about that last prediction; I really hope I am.

Photo by sparktography on Flickr