U.S. Premium Wine Held Firm in July, Led by Growth Above $50

The U.S. wine market is still contracting, but new industry data points to firmer demand at the higher end of the business, with Prosecco among the categories posting gains.

According to the latest SipSource report for July 2026, premium wine continued to hold up better than spirits in the United States, even as overall sales remained under pressure. SipSource tracks products leaving U.S. warehouses for restaurants, bars, and stores, offering a close view of real market demand.

The broader picture for wine is still weak. Over the last three months, wine volumes fell 6.8%, although that marked an improvement of 110 basis points from June. Revenue declined 4.2% over the same period. Even so, the report showed better performance in higher price brackets, especially for bottles priced at $16 and above.

The strongest signal came from the top end of the market. In the segment priced above $50, wine revenue rose 0.9% over the last 12 months. That increase stood out in a market where many lower and midrange categories are still losing ground.

Some individual categories performed even better. Champagne revenue rose 14.7% over the last three months, while Prosecco increased 10.2%. Sauvignon Blanc also posted growth, with revenue up 3.2%. Those figures suggest that, while consumers are buying less overall, they are still spending on some established premium categories, particularly sparkling wine.

The U.S. market remains important for Italian producers, even as recent trade data has shown clear weakness. WineNews, citing Istat export figures for the first half of 2026, reported that Italian wine exports to the United States totaled €849 million, down 14.1% in value. Export volumes fell 6.8% to 167.7 million liters. Those numbers reflect the strain across the market, but the SipSource figures indicate that higher-priced wines may be better positioned than the rest of the category.

The contrast with spirits was clear in the July data. While wine showed signs of stabilization in premium segments, distilled spirits continued to face heavier pressure on both revenue and premiumization. Spirits priced above $50 recorded an 8.9% drop in revenue, and the $50 to $99.99 segment declined 9.5%.

One area of relative stability for both wine and spirits was on-premise consumption. Sales through bars, restaurants, and other venues held up better than retail sales. Total volume of wine and spirits sold on-premise fell 2.8% over the last 12 months, compared with a 7.5% drop in retail. That gap suggests consumers are still willing to spend selectively when drinking out, even as store purchases have weakened more sharply.

Taken together, wine and spirits remain in decline in the United States. Combined total sales volume for the two categories fell 6.8% over the last 12 months, while revenue declined 6.1%. Over the last three months, combined volume dropped 6.2% and revenue also fell 6.1%.

For producers, importers, and distributors, the latest figures do not point to a market recovery yet. But they do show that demand has become more uneven, with premium wine proving more resilient than much of the rest of the alcohol business. In that environment, categories such as Champagne and Prosecco are emerging as some of the clearest bright spots in an otherwise difficult U.S. market.