Whether sealed with a cork or a screw cap, consumers can’t get the tops off of wine bottles fast enough. Continuing its popularity, wine has gone mainstream and is being sipped, savored and outright guzzled at such a rate that by 2010, the U.S. could actually uproot France from its perennial seat as the world’s largest wine consumer, according to the Wine Market Council.
“The explosion of the culinary category and the employment of more effective marketing strategies have made the market fruitful and the opportunities ripe, says wine consultant Michael Green. And the rise in direct-to-consumer wine sales and online sales is also creating buzz. According to Deborah Brenner, author of Women of the Vine, “There are many opportunities for entrepreneurs to get involved by providing necessary tools for wineries, such as shipping and fulfillment centers, software tools, e-commerce tools, etc.” Cameron Hughes founded San Francisco-based wine-trading company, Cameron Hughes Wine, in 2001. By buying small lots of wine in bulk from high-end producers, eliminating middlemen, cutting his own costs (he doesn’t own a single tank or barrel) and selling to Costco Wholesale Corp., Hughes, 36, has been able to stake his spot in the flourishing $10 to $15 bottle category and will grow sales to a projected $20 million by June 2008.
