Demand for higher-priced California premium wines surged as the four-year boom in wine coolers deflated in 1987, dragging down the overall U.S. wine market, an industry observer says. Some California wineries even had to go to Washington State for their chardonnays because the growing demand for premium table wines coincided with a short crop, according to a year-end industry report by Jon Fredrikson of Gomberg, Fredrikson & Associates, the nation's leading wine business consultants. The report was released this week. The premium segment of the industry was worth $740 million in sales last year, up 21 percent from 1986. Fredrikson pointed out that the premiums represented only 20 percent of all California table wine gallonage but 45 percent of table wine revenues. Burdened by a weak dollar that forced importers to raise prices, sales of foreign wines plummeted 21 percent last year, on top of a 25 percent decline the year before. Ironically, one of the few bright spots in the import picture was Italy's Riunite, scoring a 110 percent improvement on its cooler-type peach drink. At the same time, California's jug wines _ a $4 billion-plus segment with more than 80 percent of California wine sales _ continued downward for the fifth straight year as the U.S. trend toward better wines continued to rise. Fredrikson, who a couple of years ago could see no halt to the cooler phenomenon, described last year as a ``meltdown.'' From a few gallons in 1981, shipments of the fizzy blends of white wine, watgger and fruit juices rose to 8 million gallons in 1983, 34 million in 1984, 88 million in 1985, and 120 million in 1986, but then added only 2 million more last year. But for all their fiscal flatness, coolers accounted for more than 21 percent of the 423.8 million gallons California vintners sold last year. The ``cooler wars,'' as Fredrikson put it, saw the lead change from the originator, California Cooler, to Gallo's Bartles & Jaymes, and now to Seagrams with 31 percent of the market. There were two major growth areas in the champagne category, despite a 6 percent overall dip in sales. After its 48 percent surge in 1986, Guild's Cook's Champagne posted a 17 percent improvement last year with 1.3 million cases. Korbel continued the market leader with another record year, up 16 percent on shipments of more than 1.3 million cases. The showing also reflected the increasing popularity of the expensive ``methode champenoise'' way of making champagne _ fermentation in the individual bottles rather than bulk in stainless steel vats. The top five California wine companies start with Gallo, the world's largest wine producer with 39.9 percent of California's total wine sales, followed by Heublein, 10.2 percent; Vintners International, 9.1 percent; California Cooler, 5 percent, and Guild, 4 percent. Prices were mostly up last year in the heavily consumed chablis category. The top average price paid for the popular 1.5-liter case was $14.27, while the favorite bar item _ the 18-liter box _ went for $15.25 each. At $1.50 to $2.50 a glass, the bar makes up to 1,400 percent profit on each box.
