Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America’s SipSource, which releases verified wine and spirits distributor depletion data, announced its findings on year-ending data for 2023. The Q4 2023 SipSource Report identified year-end losses for both wine and spirits, individual category trends, demographic data, and commercial and consumer behaviors that contributed to the market’s current state. The report focused on data over a 12-month period (January to December 2023), predicts what consumer trends will bring for both the on- and off-premise in 2024 and gives short- and long-term insight and understanding for the future. Top findings were: continued struggles for wine beyond 2024; consumption patterns by Americans of different ethnicities will play a significant role in category and channel growth trends; and RTDs remain a bright spot for wine and spirits. COVID-19-driven spirits premiumization is “dead,” with the +$25 price tier of spirits outperforming the -$25 price tier by only 100 basis points and the +$50 price tier ending the year -6.8% compared to -5% for the -$50 price tier. The report notes that 90.1% of all volume over $50 is done in the tequila/agave, cognac, bourbon and single-malt Scotch segments, with tequila/agave accounting for 55% of that.