Wine-making equipment refer to all the equipment necessary for the elaboration of wines and spirits. These are used at different stages of the winemaking process: harvesting and destemming, pressing, fermentation and bulk aging, clarification, filtration, and finally aging and bottling.

 

There are several groups of equipment sold to the wine industry:

• Equipment used upstream (mechanical grape harvesters, destemmer, sorting table...)
• Grapes crushers, presses, filters, wine containers… 
• Maturing products for wine and spirits (staves and barrels)
• Bottling lines

 

This report includes manufacturers of harvesting machinery and equipment, companies selling maturing products for wine and spirits (staves and barrels), diversified local businesses and wine distributors in California.

 

California is the undisputed leader in the U.S. wine market, with the state accounting for more than 85% of total production, and annual wine consumption exceeding 150 million gallons per year, far ahead of Floridaand New York. More than 1,200 wineries are in California, ranging from small family-owned wineries to huge companies that export worldwide. Most of the vineyards are located between the Central Valley and the Pacific Coast. The wine equipment market in California benefits from the growth of an extremely dynamic local industry with production increasing year after year. 

 

The wine market in California has been affected by the covid-19 pandemic, the increase in sales in supermarkets has not offset the drop in sales through restaurants, wine clubs and tasting rooms. Wine tourism, one of the fastest growing segments in recent years, has been severely affected by the crisis. However, the following economic recovery and increase consumption showed the resilience of the industry.

 

Innovation is key in this market, new equipment facilitates the harvesting and monitoring of wine through all the stages of the winemaking process. For example, the Pellenc group holds more than 300 patents and devotes more than 5% of its turnover to R&D.

 

In the U.S, the premium-and-above wine segment is outpacing total category sales by a wide margin. Millenials think of wine as a social drink, or a treat rather than a staple for meals. As a result, they are willing to pay a premium price for better quality, highlighting the ongoing premiumization trend. This should benefit the wine making equipment market as winemakers pay more attention to the equipment they use.