According to GuestMetrics, based on its POS database of more than $8 billion in annual sales, Sangria sales continued to outpace sales of the overall wine category during the first quarter of 2013.

“While Sangria sales are still a small portion of the overall wine category at around 2 percent of total sales, in analyzing the 50 different types of Sangria we track in our system, our data indicates Sangria sales are outperforming the growth of the overall wine category,” says Bill Pecoriello, CEO of GuestMetrics LLC. “Looking at the performance of Sangria in our system of table service restaurants and bars, Sangria sales were up about 8 percent during the first quarter of 2013 compared to the prior year while the overall wine category grew 3 percent, resulting in Sangria gaining 10 basis points of share in the category.”

“However, while Sangria sales outpaced the wine category in the first quarter of 2013, the degree to which it outpaced the overall category moderated somewhat from 2012,” says Peter Reidhead, VP of strategy and insights at GuestMetrics. “Sangria’s sales were up about 11 percent in 2012 while overall wine sales were up about 2 percent, causing Sangria to gain about 30 basis points in the category.”

“One of things that makes the dynamics in the alcohol category so interesting is the fairly large differences in pricing, ranging from the $4.90 average price for a beer to the $7.30 average price for a cocktail to the $9.70 average price for a glass of wine,” says Brian Barrett, president of GuestMetrics. “Given the $8.44 average price for a glass of Sangria is almost exactly the midpoint between the average price of a glass of wine and a cocktail, in addition to the obvious differences in taste profiles, price is also plays a role in consumer’s decision of what type of drink to order.”