California wines most featured by U.S. restaurants

By Martinne Geller

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. restaurants are most likely to feature California wines that sell for less than $39 a bottle, according to a new report.

Start-up research firm Winemetrics LLC released its first annual "On-Premise Wine Distribution Report" on Thursday, ranking the nation's top 100 wine brands based on the frequency of their inclusion on restaurant wine lists.

Topping the list are Beringer, owned by Foster's Group Ltd., Kendall-Jackson, and Constellation Brands Inc.'s Robert Mondavi.

In fourth and fifth place, respectively, are Diageo Plc's Beaulieu Vineyard, also made in California, and UST Inc.'s Chateau Ste. Michelle, made in Washington state.

Winemetrics' data was gathered from over 10,000 casual and fine-dining restaurants in 20 states. The majority of the restaurants in the survey were casual locations, though upscale restaurants had more extensive lists.

Winemetrics Chief Executive Charles Gill told Reuters that such information can be useful to wine makers, distributors, restaurateurs and investors hoping to scan the industry's competitive landscape and gauge potential performance, since many consumers buy wine based on what they taste at restaurants. Consumers feel that by featuring certain wines, restaurants are endorsing those brands.

"Brand image is built on-premise, and volume is built off-premise," said Gill, a former wine brand manager who founded a company called Alambicor seven years ago. Alambicor recently changed its name to Winemetrics.

While sales of wine drunk "on-premise" -- meaning in restaurants or bars -- make up less than one-quarter of the volume of wine sold in the United States, such sales account for nearly half of the revenue, Gill said, due to the price mark-ups that restaurants put on the bottles they sell.