(WB) - Wine sales in the first six months of 2019 point to a flattening of growth, but opportunities remain for wineries willing to work with the changing environment.

“We’ve been seeing a flattening of the wine business,” said Jon Moramarco, editor of the Gomberg Fredrikson Report and managing partner of market research firm bw166, during a Webinar Sep. 19 that reviewed sales data from the first six months of 2019.

Growth in wine consumption is now keeping pace with growth of the legal drinking age population. It’s not outpacing it, and is also vulnerable to the cost-consciousness younger drinkers have been exhibiting. Wine, he noted, costs an average of $2.20 per serving, almost double the cost of beer and spirits, which average $1.30.

“Wine unfortunately has lost a little bit of share, it’s now at 17.6% share,” Moramarco said. “The reality is there’s not as much growth, so everybody has to work a little harder.”