WASHINGTON, D.C., 04/24/2025 — Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America’s (WSWA) latest SipSource data set ending March 2025 shows signs of stabilization in negative territory across several wine and spirits categories, though year-over-year volume trends remains negative for most product classes. With only a few bright spots—most notably Tequila and wine-based Cocktails—the industry continues to adjust to evolving consumer tastes as well as inflationary and fluid market dynamics compounded by tariffs.
Wine Volume Still Declining, But Cocktails – Wine Show Signs of Resilience
In the 12 months ending March 2025, total Wine volume declined by -7.1%, a marginal improvement from February’s -7.2%. Among product classes, Cocktails – Wine stood out with a modest volume decrease of just -1.4%, recovering from a -3.0% decline the previous month. This signals increased consumer interest in flavored and convenient wine-based beverages, offering a potential avenue for growth.
Tequila Continues to Shine as the Lone Bright Spot in Spirits
The spirits category declined -3.8% by volume over the past 12 months, an improvement from February’s -4.4%. Tequila remains the sole category in positive territory, growing +1.3% in the 12-month period to March—up from +0.9% in February.
Tariffs and Trade: Market Signals and Strategic Stakes
With global trade policy and tariffs once again in the spotlight, the beverage alcohol sector faces new uncertainties. SipSource analysts are closely tracking the early market signals, and the latest data reveals potentially telling shifts.
Champagne depletions saw a noticeable uptick in Q1, suggesting short-term retail and consumer stockpiling amid tariff concerns. While this may be a temporary spike, it's a key indicator of market sensitivity to trade dynamics.
Conversely, Prosecco—a leading driver of growth for the Sparkling Wine segment and the Wine category overall in recent years—is now trending downward, approaching negative territory. This marks a potential inflection point for the imported sparkling wine that recently overtook Champagne by way of market share with U.S. consumers.
More broadly, Imported Wine categories posted a sharper decline than Domestic Wines in Q1, a divergence SipSource will continue to monitor as trade developments unfold. For business leaders, importers, and policymakers, the message is clear: shifts in tariff policy have real-time implications for inventory planning, pricing strategy, and category performance.
WSWA’s latest SipSource data highlights the scale of exposure within the U.S. market:
- EU Wine Imports represent 16% of the total U.S. wine marketplace by volume and 24% by revenue.
- Among all wine imports into the U.S., the EU commands a 54% volume share and 68% revenue share.
- Italian wine alone accounts for 11% of total U.S. wine consumption and 14% of revenue, bolstered by the continued growth of Prosecco—a single-origin, geographically designated product that grew +0.96% in volume and +1.62% in revenue through March 2025.
- On the spirits side, Irish Whiskey contributes 2% of U.S. market volume and 3% of revenue—highlighting its importance amid transatlantic trade tensions.
As trade policy evolves, SipSource provides unparalleled insights into how tariffs and regulatory shifts can impact specific product classes, countries of origin, and consumer demand. With robust, real-time, retail-driven depletion data, SipSource enables producers, distributors, and policymakers to anticipate disruption, model potential outcomes, and make data-informed decisions in a dynamic trade environment.
For more information or to access the full SipSource report, contact Eric.Schmidt@wswa.org.
About WSWA’s SipSource
SipSource is the only source for wine and spirits trends based on aggregated and anonymized distributor depletion data from major wholesalers covering on- and off-premise sales channels. It is powered by the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) and is the industry’s most accurate and timely resource for understanding consumer behavior and market movements.