(Wines&Vines) - The key metrics tracked by Wines Vines Analytics show the domestic wine industry enjoyed another positive month in November, making 2014 a good year altogether as it comes to a close.

All of the metrics posted positive growth over the previous year except Winejobs.com’s winery hiring index, which was down 5% from an unusually high level of hiring activity in November 2013.

Direct-to-consumer shipments totaled $274 million in November, which is 21% more than the same month in 2013. Total shipments for the past 12 months are nearly $1.8 billion, which is 15% over the previous year. The DtC channel should close out 2014 in record fashion, as shipments have seen double-digit growth almost every month this year. For all of the November data and other past months, visit winesandvines.com/flash.

DtC, off-premise sales strong
Wines priced between $30 and $59.99 represent the highest share of total DtC shipment value, and a quarter of these are Pinot Noir. The second largest share (19%) belongs to Cabernet Sauvignon, followed by red blends, which account for 12% of all wines in this price category.

In the off-premise market, sales of domestic wine continued to grow at a steady clip, increasing to $708 million in November (or 5% over last year) at retail locations tracked by IRI, the Chicago-based market research firm. The 12-month total reached $7.84 billion, which is 6% more than in 2013.

Sales for wines priced at more than $20 are led by Cabernet Sauvignon, which totaled nearly $100 million. Cabernet is the leader at the higher price points, but Chardonnay still leads all sales, according to IRI.

Pinot Noir wines had the fastest sales growth in the $20-plus category over the past 52-week period ending November 2014, followed by Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon. Pinot Noir grew by more than 30% in off-premise sales for wines priced at $20 and higher.

In a good measure of winery economic health, Winejobs.com reported that hiring activity was up 15% over the past 12-months, even if the November index was down slightly compared to the previous year.

Winemaking jobs led growth in the indexes for job subcategories with a 31% increase over November 2013, followed by the hospitality job index that rose 41%. The sales and marketing index fell 46% this past month, continuing an eight-month decline in growth rate for that subcategory.

Flash offer activity bounces back
The total number of offers for domestic wines by wine flash sales sites in November was 4% higher than a year ago, bringing to an end a two-month trend of slightly lower offer totals. Flash websites made a total of 576 offers and were led by Last Call Wines, which had 113. Wired for Wine, which averaged 35 offers per month, held a special event that resulted in 106 offers for domestic wine and also helped drive the monthly total higher.

During the past 12 months ending in November 2014, the total offers per month also spiked in May (610 offers), August (601) and November (578). Each of these month’s totals were either 100 offers higher than the 12-month average of 500 or close to that level. A higher number of offers by Invino pushed the total higher in three of those months. In November, Invino had just 67 offers, and the higher total can be attributed to Wired for Wine and Last Call Wines.