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San Luis Obispo Wine County Facts:
California offers unparalleled scenic beauty along with the ideal climate, soil and landscape for growing high quality wine grapes. California's weather is consistently golden for wine grapes - warm, sunny days, cool nights and foggy mornings.
Top Wine-Consuming State
California ranks first in wine consumption in the U.S., followed by Florida, then New York.
Variety is the Spice of Life in the Golden State
There are 96 American Viticulture Areas (AVAs) in California. Each is a distinct winegrape growing area recognized by the U.S. government, a testament to the variety of microclimates in the state. California has 96 of the 172 AVAs established in the U.S. There are more tahn 60,000 registered California wine labels.
Sustainable Wine Practices Take Root
The trend in sustainable winegrowing and winemaking practices is growing quickly in California. Vintners and growers who represent 40 percent of the annual wine case production and one quarter (125,000) of the state's wine acreage currently participate in the Code of Sustainable Wine Growing Practices program.
Just How many Grapes are in that Bottle of Wine?
It takes about six to eight clusters, or approximately 600 to 800 wine grapes (2.4 lbs) to make a bottle of wine. One barrel of wine contains 740 lbs of grapes, equivalent to 59 gallons or 24.6 cases of wine.
California Wine is Good Business
Number of Wineries
(Commercial bricks and mortar wineries, 2004 estimate)
|
1,368 |
2005 California Wine Sales in the U.S.
(2 of 3 bottles sold are California wines) |
441 million gallons
(185.4 million cases)
$16.5 billion retail value
|
2005 California Wine Sales to All Markets
in the U.S. and Abroad |
532 million gallons
(223.9 million cases)
|
Number of Visitors to Wine Regions |
14.8 million
|
Tourism Expenditures |
1.3 billion
|
Full-time Equivalent Jobs |
207,550
|
Taxes Paid (California / Total) |
$1.9 billion / $5.6 billion
|
Charitable Contributions |
$73 million annually
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Full Economic Impact of Wine
on the California Economy
|
$45.4 billion
|
Number of Winegrowers |
4,800
|
2005 Total Wine Grape Acreage |
522,000
|
Number of Counties with Wine Acreage
(Vineyards cover less than one percent of the state's terrain)
|
46 out of 58 counties |
Percent California Produces of U.S. Wine |
90 percent
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Rank Among Top Wine-Producing Countries,
if California were a Nation |
Fourth (after Italy, France, Spain) |
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