Red, white, pink, or orange — still or sparkling — there’s no denying that Americans love their wine. With nearly 3,000 vineyards across the country and at least one in every state, U.S. citizens certainly have their pick of the litter when it comes to great bottles, especially considering that the United States is also the world’s largest importer of wine, bringing in approximately $5.9 billion worth every year. The nation consumes just shy of 1 billion gallons annually.

California — which accounts for 81 percent of all wine produced in the country — consumes the most wine by volume of all 50 states and Washington, D.C, drinking 156 million gallons in 2020. The populous states of Florida, Texas, New York, and Illinois followed behind to round out the top five wine-drinking states.

When examining per capita consumption, however, D.C. takes the No. 1 spot with 1.01 gallons consumed per person. New Hampshire seems to snag the No. 2 spot, but upon further inspection of the state’s booze tax laws — or lack thereof — it’s more than likely that the numbers are skewed to reflect those from neighboring states coming across New Hampshire’s borders to purchase cheaper booze.

When broken down by region, the South drinks the most by volume with an annual consumption of approximately 312.7 million gallons, while the West drinks the most per capita (0.53 gallons).

Curious to see how your state compares to its neighbors in terms of wine consumption? Read on to see VinePair’s color-coded maps depicting wine consumption per capita and by volume.

The States That Drink the Most Wine Per Capita

Citizens of Washington, D.C., drink the most wine per capita, roughly 1.01 gallons per person. Meanwhile Californians — who drink the most by volume by a long shot — come in fifth place when it comes to per capita consumption. West Virginia claims the title of the state that drinks the least wine per capita, just 0.11 gallons per individual.

The States in America That Drink the Most Wine Per Capita [MAP]

The States That Drink the Most Wine By Volume

The States in America That Drink the Most Wine By Volume (Overall) [MAP]

Naturally, the states with the highest populations drink the most wine. California leads the pack, with 156 million gallons consumed per annum. Conversely, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wyoming all tied for last when it came to the volume of wine drunk in 2020 — just 1.2 million gallons.

Ranking the States: Gallons Per Capita

Rank State Gallons of Ethanol Per Capita*
1 Washington, D.C. 1.01
2 New Hampshire 0.84
3 Delaware 0.77
4 Vermont 0.76
5 California 0.62
6 Massachusetts 0.62
7 New Jersey 0.61
8 Connecticut 0.6
9 Hawaii 0.6
10 Nevada 0.59
11 Florida 0.56
12 Rhode Island 0.55
12 Montana 0.54
14 Oregon 0.54
15 Virginia 0.53
16 Alaska 0.51
17 Colorado 0.51
18 New York 0.51
19 Washington 0.51
20 Illinois 0.47
21 North Carolina 0.47
21 Maine 0.44
23 Minnesota 0.44
24 Michigan 0.42
25 Wisconsin 0.42
26 Maryland 0.40
27 Missouri 0.39
28 Arizona 0.38
29 Tennessee 0.35
30 Texas 0.35
31 Indiana 0.34
32 Louisiana 0.34
33 North Dakota 0.33
34 Wyoming 0.33
35 Idaho 0.32
36 Pennsylvania 0.32
37 New Mexico 0.31
38 Ohio 0.31
39 Arkansas 0.26
40 Alabama 0.25
41 Georgia 0.25
42 Kentucky 0.24
43 South Carolina 0.24
44 Iowa 0.23
45 Mississippi 0.22
46 Nebraska 0.22
47 South Dakota 0.22
48 Utah 0.20
49 Oklahoma 0.19
50 Kansas 0.14
51 West Virginia 0.11

Ranking The States: Gallons Overall

Rank State Gallons Overall
1 California 156M
2 Florida 70.7M
3 Texas 64.3M
4 New York 63.6M
5 Illinois 38.5M
6 New Jersey 34.8M
7 North Carolina 32.3M
8 Virginia 29.1M
9 Massachusetts 28M
10 Michigan 27.3M
11 Pennsylvania 26.5M
12 Washington 25M
13 Ohio 23.4M
14 Colorado 19.1M
15 Arizona 17.9M
16 Georgia 16.9M
17 Minnesota 16M
18 Wisconsin 15.7M
19 Maryland 15.6M
20 Tennessee 15.5M
21 Missouri 15.3M
22 Oregon 15M
23 Indiana 14.4M
24 Connecticut 13.9M
25 Nevada 11.8M
26 Louisiana 10M
27 South Carolina 8.2M
28 Alabama 8.2M
29 New Hampshire 7.6M
30 Kentucky 6.8M
31 Hawaii 5.4M
32 Arkansas 5M
33 Delaware 4.9M
34 Oklahoma 4.7M
35 Iowa 4.7M
36 Washington, D.C. 4.7M
37 New Mexico 4.1M
38 Mississippi 4M
39 Maine 3.9M
40 Utah 3.8M
41 Rhode Island 3.8M
42 Montana 3.7M
43 Idaho 3.6M
44 Vermont 3.1M
45 Kansas 2.6M
46 Nebraska 2.6M
47 Alaska 2.3M
48 North Dakota 1.5M
49 West Virginia 1.2M
50 Wyoming 1.2M
51 South Dakota 1.2M

*This data uses an estimate of average ethanol content of sold or shipped wine into gallons of ethanol (pure alcohol) before calculating per capita consumption estimates. For this data, the alcohol by volume value for wine is 0.129.

*Image sourced from PixieMe – stock.adobe.com

Published: February 20, 2023