US: Beer Isn't Colorado's Only Local Pour

(Wines&Vines) - The first time I visited Colorado wineries in the 1980s, I went to all two of them, one outside Colorado Springs and one in Palisades, on the western slope. Today there are 101 bonded and four virtual wineries in the state, according to Wines Vines Analytics, and the economic impact of the industry has multiplied many times. The Colorado Wine Industry Development Board in early December released the results of an economic impact study they had commissioned from Colorado State University’s Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics (DARE). The study was conducted in 2012-13 in order to update a similar study done in 2005.

In just seven years, the economic impact of Colorado wine industry rose from nearly $42 million in 2005 to more than $144 million in 2012. Sales of Colorado wine rose from $11 million in 2005 to more than $28 million in fiscal year 2013, and the number of jobs that wine, wine-related activities (such as wine festivals) and wine tourism supports has increased to 1,665.

The data also shows that Colorado wines are growing in value as well as in volume. The average bottle price for a Colorado wine is now $16.68, up from $12.86 in 2005, and consumers who buy Colorado wines most frequently were most likely to buy wine in the $16-$25 price range.

Two other statistics stand out in the wealth of economic information generated from the impact study. While the Colorado wine industry may not be large by West Coast standards, the state’s wine consumers do like to drink wine. Wine-drinking residents of the state consume approximately 3.1 gallons per capita compared to the national figure of 2.5 gallons per capita. Even more important to the local wine industry, more than 5% of the money Colorado residents spend on wine is for wine made within the state.