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Wine Facts, Statistics, and Trivia


Age of vine before producing useful grapes: 3 years
Age of vine before full production: 5 years
Age of vine before the French producers will use the fruit for their premier wine: 10 years
Productive lifetime of a vine in Napa: 30-35 years (Quality improves, but yield declines)
Grape bunches in bottle: 4-6

Grapes in a bottle: 500-600
Bunches on a vine: 40
Grapes in a bunch: 75-100
Vines per acre: 500-1300 in Napa Valley; 3000-4500 in Bordeaux
Pounds of grapes produced by one vine: 8-12

Tons per acre: 4 (average in Napa Valley. Can vary greatly)
Gallons of wine per ton of grapes: 120
Gallons of wine per acre: 500
Barrels per acre: 13.5
Bottles per vine: 4-8

Bottles per ton: 500-700
Bottles per acre: 4,000
Cases per barrel: 24.6
Glasses per acre: 16,000
Glasses in a bottle: 5-6

Bottles per 60 gallon barrel: 300
Calories in a 5 ounce glass of dry wine: 100-125
Fat in a 5 ounce glass of dry wine: 0
Carbohydrates in a 5 ounce glass of dry wine: 1-2
Cost of acre of new vineyard in Napa Valley: $120,000 (some existing property has been sold for $300,000 an acre)

Cost of French oak barrel: $600-850
Cost of American oak barrel: $300-550
Average age of a French oak tree used to make barrels: 170 years
Number of years an oak barrel is used: 5-8
Number of vineyard acres in Napa County (2008): 45,158 (out of a total of 485,120 acres in the entire county)\ 9% of total
Number of vineyard acres placed in Land Trust never to be developed: More than 20,000 in conservation easements, and 38,000 in agricultural preservation

Most popular varietals in Napa Valley (in order of popularity)
1. Cabernet Sauvignon
2. Chardonnay
3. Merlot
4. Sauvignon Blanc
5. Pinot Noir
6. Zinfandel

Proportion of total value at harvest of red varietals compared to white: Nearly 3:1
Number of wineries in Napa Valley: Approximately 400
Number of wineries in Napa Valley built since 1966: 300 production facilities. The rest are cooperatively produced
Number of people/companies owning Napa Valley vineyards: 626
Number of people directly employed in Napa Valley wine industry (wineries, vineyards, vineyard/winery services): More than 8,000

Number of people directly employed in Napa Valley wine industry and resulting hospitality industry: More than 40,000
Year grapes first planted in Napa Valley: 1838 (by George Yount)
First small winery built in Napa Valley after Prohibition: Stony Hill (1951)
First large winery built in Napa Valley after Prohibition: Robert Mondavi (1966). The wine industry in California had been devastated by prohibition; no one wanted to invest in it for 33 years! (The Louis Martini Winery had been built in 1933 just prior to the end of Prohibition.)

Biggest Napa Valley crop before grapes: Prunes
Largest corporate owner of vineyards in Napa Valley\Diageo (a British corporation)
Largest private owner of vineyards in Napa\Andrew Beckstoffer (Beckstoffer Vineyards)
Largest owner of vineyards in California\Jess Jackson (Kendall-Jackson)
Number of cases of Napa Valley wine produced annually\9.2 million (2006)

Gross revenue from sales of that wine\10.128 billion (2006)
Ranking of United States in world wine production\4th (533,596,000 gallons: behind Italy,    France, and Spain; 2008)
Ranking of United States in world wine acreage\4th (905,000 acres; 1999)
Ranking of United States in world wide consumption\second place (soon to become first, but    only because of population, not consumption - see below)
Percentage of U.S. wine made in California\90%

Percentage of California wine made in Napa Valley\4%
Average annual soft drink consumption of Americans per capita\55 gallons!
Average annual beer consumption of Americans per capita\22 gallons
Average annual coffee consumption of Americans per capita\22 gallons
Average annual bottled water consumption of Americans per capita\11 gallons

Average annual wine consumption of Americans per capita - 2.58 gallons
Average annual wine consumption of Americans per capita - only 13 bottles!
Highest annual wine consumption per capita (Vatican City State) - 88.7 bottles!!!

Average annual wine consumption of selected other countries (2008; The Wine Institute)
France - 70.9 bottles (another reason I love France)
Luxembourg - 70.2 bottles (there's not much else to do)
Italy - 66.7 bottles (another reason I love Italy)
Portugal - 59.1 bottles
Switzerland - 48.3 bottles
Spain - 43.9 bottles
Greece - 43.7 bottles
Denmark - 36.7 bottles
Argentina - 35.7 bottles
Belgium - 33.7 bottles
Germany - 32.2 bottles
Australia - 30.3 bottles
New Zealand - 29.1 bottles
Netherlands - 28.9 bottles
United Kingdom - 25.5 bottles (more than twice the US!)
Ireland - 23.0 bottles (in addition to all that beer!)
Chile - 21.5 bottles
Sweden - 20.7 bottles
Canada - 16.3 bottles
USA - 12.9 bottles (come on, guys, this is embarrassing!)
Finland - 11.3 bottles
South Africa - 10.6 bottles
Russia - 9.9 bottles (too busy drinking vodka)
United Arab Emirates - 7.7 bottles (and growing fast!)
Hong Kong - 5.0 bottles (also growing fast)
Japan - 2.5 bottles (probably excludes Sake)
Brazil - 2.4 bottles (too busy getting plastic surgery)
Poland - 2.1 bottles
China - estimates vary from 0.7 to 1.6 bottles (Chinese consumption is rising by 15-30% per year. There is unbelievable demand for first growth Bordeaux in Hong Kong and China, which has kept prices high despite the world-wide recession.)
Israel - 1.5 bottles (probably because they don't have Manischewitz there!)