Sonoma/Napa 2018 Grape Crush

The data is out on the 2018 wine grape crush. What stands out is that quantity was way up while prices rose also. How does that happen? Plenty of demand -- and hoping that the market will still be there in three years when these wines become available.

The North Coast (Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, Lake counties) had a combined $2 billion harvest. The grape yield had a two-digit percent increase over 2017 and a single-digit increase in prices. Napa, once again, has the highest grape prices in the state (and I'm assuming in the country). The average cost of Napa grapes was about $5,600/ton while in Sonoma it was $2,800/ton. Napa's most expensive grape, cabernet sauvignon, averaged about $7,850. Sonoma's most expensive, pinot noir, $3,800. The price for pinot actually dropped a bit because the harvest was so large.

Wine folks talk about determining the bottle price for a wine by dividing the grape price per ton by 100 so that puts the average price of a Napa cab from this harvest at $78.50. 

A little perspective: In 2017 the average price for a ton of Washington state cabernet sauvignon was a bit over $1,500. In the prime Willamette, Oregon growing area pinot noir went for over $2,500.