Napa/Sonoma Top Wine News for 2022 (and happy anniversary)!

Happy Anniversary to me. The first post on this wine blog was on December 27, 2008, and titled "Oh no, another wine blog!" Yeah, I'm still here.  :)
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There are a couple big stories to the year. One is the well-known wineries that have sold. These happen to all be in Napa. There were smaller, less recognized ones that changed hands, also. The other story is the post-pandemic high prices.

 

Joseph Phelps Vineyards, founded 1973

These Napa big name wineries changed hands during 2022. What do they all have in common? They were sold by the second generation family members who took the check. Can't blame them.

1. Silverado Winery went from the founding family, relatives of Walt Disney, to billionaire wine magnate Bill Foley.
2. Shafer Vineyards, a highly respected family operation, went to a Korean luxury goods retail company. Fifty years of hard work on the family ranch paid off to the tune of a cool $250 million.
3. Joseph Phelps Vineyards was sold by the Phelps family to a French company, Moet Hennessy.
4. Robert Sinskey Winery was recently sold to the so-called Wonderful Company run by a billionaire California farming family mired in controversy. The winery was leased back to the family to continue running the operation.

Napa and Sonoma wine tasting fees went up significantly after reopening post-pandemic. Part of this is due to the move from informal walk-in tastings at the bar to reserved seated tastings. The change in the level of service would make it naturally a bit more expensive, but many wineries went crazy with pricing. There are numerous Napa tasting rooms charging $100 or more for just a tasting and maybe a few bites with the wine. A little crazy.

Just before the pandemic hit the average fee in Napa was about $32, now it's $55. What you might consider a premium experience averages over $80. After we came out of the last recession the average fee was $20.  In Sonoma, the average price has gone from about $25 to $35 after the pandemic.

Wine bottle prices and lodging prices have also increased, with some Napa places doubling and tripling their nightly rates. Occupancy seems to be down, but profits are just fine.

Napa premiumization seems to have worked for them so far, as the area was plenty busy in 2022. Will this continue? If it does, other lesser known areas for wine tasting see this as an opportunity to step into the space left by Napa.

What the basic $65 tasting looks like at Mondavi
image from robertmondaviwinery.com