U.S. Map Shows Which States Drink The Most Wine
Curious about how much wine is consumed in your state? A new color-coded map from VinePair shows which U.S. states drink the most wine per capita and by volume based on recent data from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Surprisingly, those living in Idaho drink the most wine per capita (1.2 gallons) beating out America’s winemaking mecca, California. West Virginians drink the least wine per capita (0.1 gallons), but they drink about a gallon of beer and 2 gallons of spirits each year.
The wine map shows that the highly populated state of California, which is responsible for 86% of America’s total wine output, does indeed drink the most wine by total volume, with other large states like Florida, New York, and Texas not far behind. Conversely, Wyoming and South Dakota consume the least wine by volume. Top to bottom, that’s a difference of 155.6 million gallons overall for California compared to just 1.2 million gallons each for Wyoming and South Dakota.
Craft Brewers Repackage To Stay Afloat
According to the Brewers Association, an industry trade group, most American craft breweries keg 40% of their beer to sell on draft at their own taprooms or other brewpubs, bars, and restaurants. As on-premise sales dried up completely due to the pandemic, craft brewers began repackaging their beer any way they could. Many stepped up their canning operations. Others transitioned to growlers or crowlers. Those new to canning partnered with mobile canning companies such as Codi Manufacturing or Mobile Canning. Like restaurateurs, many craft brewers scrambled to establish online ordering systems and curbside pickup.
Many also turned to delivery. According to Bart Watson, Chief Economist at the Brewers Association, the number of craft breweries offering local delivery increased by 31% since last year. In some states, lawmakers have eased alcohol delivery restrictions, even allowing breweries to list their products on delivery services such as Doordash and UberEats. The online beer retailer Tavour saw a significant bump in sales, as 47 new breweries joined the retail website since March. Despite the overall economic downturn, most craft brewers remain optimistic, according to Watson, and many are hoping that legislators will allow beer delivery to continue after pandemic restrictions are lifted. “There are a lot of people who have really gotten used to staying at home,” says Megan Birch, Tavour’s director of marketing, “and when everything does open up, they’re not really going to want to go out. It’s so much easier to just get beer delivered to their house.”
Ankle Tags Now Keep Dutch Alcohol Offenders On The Wagon
The Dutch justice ministry has instituted the use of electronic bracelets or tags on people convicted of alcohol-related offenses. The tags monitor any and all alcohol consumption by analyzing the sweat of the person wearing it. The previous monitoring system used blood or urine tests only twice a week. With the new tags, data is sent to a central server once a day for probation officers to inspect. Pilot studies by the justice ministry showed that 71% of those wearing tags abstained from any alcohol consumption during the study, even though some were permitted access to alcohol. Roughly half of the participants said they even abstained from drinking for at least three months after the ankle tag was removed. The new tags aim to stem the increase in alcohol-related offenses in the Netherlands. Studies cited by the justice ministry show that 26% to 43% of all violent incidents in the Netherlands are alcohol-related, and alcohol abuse costs Dutch society an estimated $6.75 billion a year.
How Diurnal Swing Creates Lively Wine
To make exceptional wines, winemakers become highly attuned to regional and local shifts in climactic factors like temperature, wind, and humidity. Wine grapes are particularly sensitive to diurnal swing, the contrast between the highest daytime and lowest nighttime temperature. Generally, a big diurnal swing translates into fresher, livelier, better-tasting wine. Higher daytime temperatures increase sugar production in the grapes, while lower nighttime temperature tap the brakes on development, keep the grapes from becoming too mature. Together, the contrast in temperatures creates rich aromas in wines while preserving their acidity and freshness.
Big diurnal swings are more common at high elevations in regions that have a spike in midday temperatures. While factors like soil composition are key to a wine’s terroir, diurnal swing may be even more critical in some regions. It helps to create a balanced flavor profile. “By balancing out the heat spikes that jack up sugar levels and drive down acid,” says Evan Goldstein, MS, and president of the wine education platform Full Circle Wine Solutions, “the physiological development of the grape is more moderate and balanced, and leads to livelier flavors.” .
American Cancer Society Recommends Eliminating Alcohol Entirely
For the first time in eight years, the American Cancer Society (ACS) has updated its guidelines on reducing cancer risk. The new guidelines say it’s best to eliminate alcohol from one’s diet to cut risk. “Alcohol use is one of the most important preventable risk factors for cancer, along with tobacco use and excess body weight,” according to the organization. In the United States alone, alcohol use accounts for about 6% of all cancers and 4% of all cancer deaths, according to ACS data. The organization had previously recommended limiting alcohol consumption to one drink a day for women and two drinks a day for men (a drink defined as 12 ounces of regular beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof distilled spirits). These amounts were recommended for people who didn’t want to entirely cut alcohol from their diets.
The new guidelines also recommend eliminating processed and red meat from one’s diet entirely, as well as cutting out sugar-sweetened beverages and “highly processed foods and refined grain products.” Previously recommendations for physical activity included 150 minutes of “moderate-intensity” or 75 minutes of “vigorous-intensity” activity every week for adults. Now, the ACS says “Adults should engage in 150-300 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75-150 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity per week; achieving or exceeding the upper limit of 300 minutes is optimal.”
How To Read A Wine By Its Cork
Wine critic Dave McIntyre explains that the cork in a bottle of wine can tell you whether the wine was properly sealed and stored. A ring of color at the base of the cork tells you that the bottle was properly stored on its side or upside down so that wine contacts the cork. This storage method reduces the likelihood of the cork drying out and exposing the wine to excessive oxygen. No ring on the cork indicates that the bottle was probably stored upright, which often increase the wine’s ullage, the gap of air between the wine and the cork. A storage area with low humidity can also increase the ullage. Either way, in an unopened bottle, the ullage should be about a quarter to half an inch. While older wines often have a somewhat large ullage, excessive ullage in a younger wine is a red flag to not buy it.
While sniffing a cork may offer some clues about the wine’s quality, it is not the definitive test for spoiled or “corked” wine. Even if the cork has tainted the wine, the telltale odor of “wet dog” may not be evident in the cork itself. Similarly, a cork may smell bad, but the wine may taste fine.
Binge Drinking Linked to Estrogen Hormone, Study Says
Researchers at the University of Illinois in Chicago have found that high estrogen levels may make alcohol more rewarding to female mice. Their study, published Monday in the Journal of Neuroscience, builds on existing research suggesting that treatments for binge drinking may be more effective if sex differences are considered.
“Women more rapidly transition from problematic alcohol drinking to having an alcohol use disorder and to suffer from the negative health effects of alcohol, such as increased cancer risk, liver damage, heart disease, and brain damage,” said co-author Amy Lasek, a psychiatrist at the University of Illinois. Lasek’s research focused specifically on how the brain’s estrogen receptors regulate alcohol sensitivity. The increased neural activity, she suggests, may translate into more intense feelings of pleasure among women when drinking. Though the study was conducted on mice, its findings may help lead to new, sex-based treatments for alcohol use disorder.
Alcohol Sales Are Up, But Not For Craft Distilleries
According to market research firm Nielsen, alcoholic beverage sales increased 55 percent in the week ending March 2, one of the first weeks of lockdown. Drizly, an alcohol delivery app, also reports sales increases of 485 percent through mid-April. However, inexpensive beer and wine account for most sales increases, according to data analysis firm inMarket. Over the past two months, Anheuser-Busch’s Busch Light sales saw a 44 percent increase. At craft distilleries, the opposite story has been playing out. Craft distilleries rely heavily on tasting rooms, restaurants, and in-person sales, and those companies have experienced widespread sales declines and layoffs, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States and the American Distilling Institute.
For example, before the pandemic, Virginia’s Catoctin Creek Distilling sold 60 percent of its product to liquor stores and 40 percent to restaurants and bars, according to co-owner Scott Harris. But in April, Catoctin Creek did not sell to a single restaurant or bar. In fact, restaurants returned 80 cases of whiskey to the company. Sales also vanished from tasting rooms, which normally account for 20 to 25 percent of the company’s revenue, according to Harris. While Catoctin had planned to sell 100,000 bottles of craft distilled liquor this year, Harris said he would be lucky to repeat last year’s sales of 60,000 bottles. Some industry experts predict that financial losses and shifting consumer buying habits will cause many craft distilleries to close permanently.
Argentinian Winemakers Revamp Malbec For Fresher Flavors
Most malbec wine from Argentina bears the signature flavors of dark raisins and blackberry jam. As that dark flavor profile falls out of favor, the country’s winemakers have been shifting away from so-called “fruit bombs” toward leaner, fresher, more food-friendly wines. While traditional Argentinian malbec hovers around 15.5% ABV, new wave malbecs have a lower ABV of 13 to 13.5%.
In Mendoza, at Traslapiedra winery, Juan Facundo Suarez follows the advice of his great-grandfather and tries to avoid “over-ripeness,” striving instead to bottle wines that are low in alcohol and oak, yet high in freshness. At Familia Zuccardi, Sebastián Zuccardi also aims for easy-drinking malbec by aging in concrete instead of oak barrels. Likewise, most of the wines under the Michelini Bros. label balance acidity, texture, and floral aromas with little to no oak. Many of today’s winemakers in Argentina favor shorter aging and less intense extraction to produce lighter malbecs with more snap and zest. And they are well worth seeking out.
Consumers Buy More Booze, But Alcohol Sales Drop Globally
Alcohol sales from U.S. stores grew 26.5% between mid-March and mid-May compared to the same time last year, according to market research firm Nielsen. Yet while e-commerce sales are growing, analysts say that losses from closed restaurants, bars, festivals, and sporting arenas are quickly eclipsing those gains. Global alcohol sales will drop 12% this year, according to IWSR, a firm that tracks international alcohol sales. The $10 billion travel retail industry has also been hit severely due to travel restrictions. Mark Meek, CEO of IWSR, says 2019 was the “last ‘normal’ year” for the industry for awhile. The firm expects it will take until at least until 2024 to reach pre-pandemic alcohol sales levels.
