(ShipCompliant) - We publish our annual Direct to Consumer Wine Shipping Report to provide an overview of the direct shipping industry. This includes data analysis on trends across the year, winery size, destinations, regions, prices, and varietals. 2014 showed an overall improvement of the industry. Some varietals, in particular, served a large role in this improvement.

 Pinot Noir was the rising star this past year, selling right at 600,000 cases. Though it held its second place ranking to Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir experienced a combination of significant increases in both volume of shipments and average price per bottle shipped. This resulted in a 33% increase in the value of Pinot Noir shipments for 2014.

This follows the trend Pinot Noir initiated several years ago. Pinot Noir represents 15.2% of the total market. This varietal has been outperforming the market average in percentage of annual growth since 2012. In 2013, Pinot Noir saw an overall increase in 11% of volume and a 10% increase in overall value. In 2012, this varietal experienced a 17.6% in value growth.

The only other wine that parallels Pinot Noir in success is Cabernet Sauvignon, which has maintained its first place ranking of highest average price per bottle in the market. With 17.4% of the total market, Cabernet Sauvignon continues to be the most commonly shipped wine. The rest of the varietals fail to compare to Pinot Noir’s success.

Much of Pinot Noir’s growth was attributed to the increase in production and stable prices seen in Napa, Sonoma, and Oregon between 2012 and 2013. The growth of Pinot Noir spread across the US, but it is important to note it accounted for 100% of sales growth in the “Rest of California” direct shipments.