(Wines&Vines) - March brought very significant growth in direct-to-consumer shipments and the Winery Job Index compared to March 2014, plus steady growth in off-premise domestic wine sales. All three of these key indicators of U.S. wine industry health in March beat their 12-month averages. Wine flash sales offers declined by 7%.

The entire March metrics report from Wines Vines Analytics is available here.

Wine clubs spur DtC shipments
The value of direct-to-consumer shipments from U.S. wineries in March rose 19% from the March 2014 value, and the 12-month growth rate stayed at last month’s level of 14%. March is a big month for wine club shipments, including numerous high-value purchases, and those contributed significantly to the monthly total of $251,896,707.

Average bottle price in March was $44.98 compared to $43.75 in March 2014, and compared to $38.40 for the 2014 overall average bottle price for DtC shipments. In 2014, March had the third highest average bottle price after October and November, and in 2013 March had the highest average bottle price.

March DtC shipment volume of 466,712 cases was also up 61,888 cases from March 2014, a 15% gain and the third highest volume month since at least 2011.

Wines Vines Analytics took a closer look at Northwest wineries’ DtC shipments this month. Oregon wineries passed Washington wineries in value of DtC shipments about two years ago and stretched their lead in the 12 months ending in March.

Oregon direct-shipped $91,155,582 worth of wine during that period, up 38% from the previous 12 months. This compared to Washington’s value of $61,159,178, which was up 13%.

The average bottle price for Oregon DtC shipments grew $2.18 in three years to $40.27, while Washington’s average bottle price decreased by $1.18 to $35.44.

DtC shipment market share by varietal in Oregon and Washington looks very different, too. The accompanying donut graphs show the radically different product mixes in the adjoining states. It’s no surprise that Pinot Noir dominates Oregon direct shipments, but the extent of its dominance – 70% market share by value – is quite unusual. The next closest varietal, Chardonnay, had only a 6% share.