Since the depth of the Great Recession the number of wineries in California has increased 31% from 3,540 wineries in 2011 to 4,650 in 2017. Yes, wine sales went up in that time, too, but we now have flatter sales, excess crop from 2018, and a possible recession looming again.
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| All is not rosy in the vineyards |
There are low cost retailers like Costco (maybe Amazon will get serious some day). Besides more wineries competing for the same consumers there's competition from craft beer, craft cocktails and even from cannabis. All of this isn't making it any easier to sell premium wine.
This competition is bringing some new ideas to tasting rooms and wine clubs in an attempt to build relationships though some of it seems kind of gimmicky (Chateau St. Jean's escape room). Going by past history wineries will try everything else before considering lower prices. The next couple years could be interesting.
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