Napa Chardonnay was the DTC hero of 2025
New wine shipping data released today by Sovos indicates that Chardonnay from Napa Valley was the shining star in a dark year overall for direct to consumer sales in the US. Sarah Neish reports.
Amidst a bleak backdrop, which saw direct-to-consumer wine sales plummet in the US by 15% by volume and 6% by value, one variety and region stood out as a bright spot in 2025.
According to the latest annual Sovos DTC Wine Shipping Report, released today, 2025 was “the most disappointing year for DTC wine shipments” since the report was first published in 2010. The category retreated by more than 967,000 cases, and lost more than US$230 million in value last year.
However, the detailed report, which weighs up shipping data from more than 1,300 wineries across the US, points out “the relative overachievement of Napa in 2025”.
In fact, Napa Valley now represents 50% of the total value of the DTC winery shipping channel in the United States, up from 46% in 2024.
Raise a glass
Napa Chardonnay especially stood out, achieving a 14% gain in value and a 17% increase in average price, even as volume sales of the region’s Chardonnay slipped 2% compared with 2024.
The Sovos report says this suggests “a healthy demand for high-end Napa Chardonnay.”
Overall, it added, Napa wineries are “on a trajectory to reach more than $100.00 per bottle” across all varieties and styles.
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“Napa clearly benefitted from the willingness of customers at the high end of the market to continue buying compared to those at the lower end,” the report said.
Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, too, performed well, achieving an average bottle price of US$154.58 in 2025, while Napa red blends also exceeded the performance of the overall DTC shipping category with an average bottle price of US$138.81.
Unhappy neighbours
That said, the latest data shows that Napa’s success was not shared with its near neighbours, with dwindling wine shipments from the ‘rest of California’ responsible for 62% of the total category’s loss in value.
“California, the most common destination of wine shipments in the US, experienced the significant decline of $142 million in lost shipments in 2025,” the report says.
The annual Sovos report is a collaboration between Sovos ShipCompliant and WineBusiness Analytics.
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