For a lot of the wine trade, 2024 supplied few causes to pop corks. Studies of declining general consumption, falling grape costs, and continued mushy demand on the horizon made 2024 a yr to neglect whereas clouding the outlook for 2025.
For Josh Cellars, however, the yr supplied loads of causes to boost a glass. Recognized for turning out massive portions of dependable West Coast classics like Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Zinfandel at cheap costs, the California-based model loved a second of viral celeb initially of 2024 when its humble branding was became a gently ribbing however largely affectionate social media meme. In a shock to nobody within the trade, Josh’s Cabs and Chardonnays continued to dominate at their sub-$20 value factors. And because the yr wound to a detailed, Josh discovered another reason to hoist a glass of bubbly: its personal.
In line with scan information supplied by the corporate, for the 4 weeks previous Dec. 1, Josh Prosecco for the primary time overtook Ruffino to change into the No. 3 Italian glowing wine within the U.S., placing it behind solely Mionetto and La Marca when it comes to quantity gross sales. Since launching its base Prosecco in 2019 (and including a Prosecco Rosé providing the next yr), the very American winemaker has quietly made vital inroads into the U.S. marketplace for this very Italian glowing wine. During the last 5 years Josh Prosecco has doubled its case quantity, whereas its glowing rosé has grown 114.6 p.c since its debut in 2020. With Prosecco gross sales nonetheless booming and Josh’s personal model recognition arguably at its apogee, the California winemaker has promptly emerged as one of many largest — and a few would possibly say impossible — sellers of Italian bubbly within the U.S.
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Bubbly Growth
Glowing wine normally loved a major leap in gross sales through the onset of the pandemic. In line with IWSR information, through the two-year stretch from 2019 to 2021, U.S. Champagne gross sales grew by 11 p.c yearly whereas Prosecco noticed a barely slower 10 p.c development fee throughout the identical interval. However following that preliminary interval of lockstep development, Champagne and Prosecco diverged. From 2021 to 2023, Champagne gross sales declined by 7 p.c yearly whereas Prosecco maintained an annual development fee above 5 p.c.
In an IWSR report, Marten Lodewijks, president of IWSR’s U.S. Division, ascribes Prosecco’s continued development to its versatility throughout a variety of events and its rather more aggressive value level compared with Champagne. In 2020, Prosecco’s regulatory physique additionally granted approval for winemakers to start producing Prosecco Rosé beginning with that yr’s classic, offering the class with a splashy new product.
Regardless of the underlying trigger, Prosecco gross sales have remained robust within the U.S. over the previous half-decade even when gross sales of different glowing wines have flagged.
“Prosecco has established itself because the model within the U.S.,” says Brian Gelb, VP of European wine & grasp information at Complete Wine. “Shopper want isn’t essentially tied to 1 particular producer, which has helped it develop distribution and love with U.S. customers.”
Customers broadly could not differentiate between Mionetto, La Marca, or Freixenet. But when Josh’s gross sales information are any indication, the corporate’s legions of loyal followers do know the distinction between Josh and not-Josh, and that distinction usually drives their buying choices. So when Prosecco gross sales started taking off within the U.S., it wasn’t a stretch for the corporate to purpose that U.S. customers would embrace a Josh Prosecco if just one have been on the shelf.
280,000 Circumstances and Counting
Previous to launching its Prosecco in 2019, Josh Cellars didn’t have a glowing wine in its portfolio. However it did have loads of goodwill related to its model, which has carved out a major area of interest for itself within the premium wine class (these costing roughly $14-$20 per bottle at retail). In line with Impression Databank, Josh’s 2023 gross sales quantity reached 6.2 million 9-liter circumstances in 2023, a 14 p.c improve over the yr prior. And whereas customers would possibly often poke a little bit of lighthearted enjoyable at Josh’s humble identify and branding, they accomplish that whereas posting pics of the Josh bottles they’ve bought. Customers — a minimum of a large cohort of them — genuinely like Josh Cellars’ wines on the costs they willingly pay for them.
“Josh is fairly distinctive within the wine enterprise,” says Dan Kleinman, the chief model officer for Deutsch Household Wine and Spirits, which has owned Josh Cellars since 2014. “We’ve got the best share of customers that usually drink two or extra varietals from the identical model. They may drink throughout our portfolio.”
“I believe everybody was anticipating Prosecco Rosé to have that meteoric development that also rosé did when it first turned a pattern within the U.S., however it didn’t fairly occur on this class. We’re one of many few that’s had actual success with each.”
The choice to leap into the Prosecco market wasn’t taken flippantly, however as soon as it was made the Josh workforce — led by winemaker Wayne Donaldson — moved rapidly. They discovered enthusiastic Italian companions within the father-son duo Daniele and Matteo Pozzi and took partial possession of a winemaking facility in Tarzo, simply north of Conegliano within the coronary heart of Prosecco’s DOC.
The Prosecco produced there now makes up greater than 4 p.c of the model’s complete gross sales, a quantity that’s rising by the yr (year-over-year Josh’s Prosecco gross sales are at the moment up 18 p.c for the bottom Prosecco and 9 p.c for the Prosecco Rosé). If 4 p.c appears like a small quantity, think about Josh’s complete gross sales quantity. All of it provides as much as some 280,000 circumstances of Prosecco and Prosecco Rosé bought beneath the Josh identify, outpacing all however the two greatest Italian Prosecco manufacturers within the U.S.
Josh’s Prosecco Rosé has confirmed significantly profitable for the model. Although it makes up only a quarter of Josh’s complete Prosecco gross sales, for many manufacturers the ratio is extra like 90 p.c base Prosecco to 10 p.c rosé, Kleinman says.
“Lots of people rushed into the [rosé] area, however there are only a few gamers who’re seeing vital quantity as a portion of their base Prosecco enterprise,” he says. “I believe everybody was anticipating Prosecco Rosé to have that meteoric development that also rosé did when it first turned a pattern within the U.S., however it didn’t fairly occur on this class. We’re one of many few that’s had actual success with each.”
Cracking All Events
{That a} California model has, a minimum of for now, claimed the No. 3 spot within the competitors for America’s best-selling Prosecco is a feat unto itself. However for Josh, pushing into the Prosecco area wasn’t nearly catching a trip on a boosting rocket.
“Prosecco has been an actual vibrant spot for getting youthful drinkers in,” Kleinman says. If Josh actually has a knack for coaxing its clients to drink throughout its portfolio, any entry level into that portfolio is price exploring.
Josh launched the model’s first-ever non-alcoholic beverage, a NA sparkler derived from Glera grapes and produced by the identical Italian winemaking workforce that makes Josh’s Proseccos.
Josh has leveraged its vital revenues right into a advertising and marketing push for merchandise aimed toward legal-age Gen Z and Millennial drinkers, together with these designed to fit into events the place wine isn’t the obvious beverage selection. These merchandise embody Seaswept, a light-weight, lower-ABV mix of Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Grigio that’s meant to be consumed away from the dinner desk, and Fireside, a Cabernet Sauvignon that Josh is advertising and marketing as an anytime around-the-house crimson slightly than one thing that begs for a meals pairing.
Prosecco can also be a part of that technique, given its versatility in makes use of starting from cocktails to celebrations to brunch. The wines are moderately priced, fizzy, and enjoyable, Kleinman says, so there’s no purpose Prosecco can’t be an anytime wine. To that finish, this month Josh launched the model’s first-ever non-alcoholic beverage, a NA sparkler derived from Glera grapes and produced by the identical Italian winemaking workforce that makes Josh’s Proseccos.
“One of many key areas that wine must press into is informal, higher-energy gatherings the place wine actually doesn’t compete versus spirits, beer, and RTDs or seltzers,” Kleinman says. “That’s the subsequent frontier for wine, and we predict Prosecco does that nicely.”
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