This is a followup to the A Slow Summer for Wineries post from a couple of days ago.
A just released article from a Silicon Valley Bank webinar via Wine-Searcher says, "Hey, guess what? Wine tasting traffic is way down in places that have substantially increased tasting fees!"
During The Grand Reopening after the Pandemic lockdown, it was glorious! People couldn't wait to get out of the house and spend that travel and recreation money they had saved up. They came to the wine country and threw money around. The "here, take my money!" days are over. This had to be expected.
Northern Sonoma County was hit with an early season large wildfire, as have many places in the state. Here's the current status as I've been able to gather from news sources.
You may well have seen other articles on what wines you should drink this summer. They likely told you to drink rosé, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, and maybe Chardonnay, Grenache or Pinot Noir. I won't be mentioning those. These all work, but they can be kind of boring.
For the warm weather you want refreshing (that means good acid), dry, and chillable.
Following are a few whites and reds to enjoy in the warmth with lighter foods and BBQs. These wines are higher in acids and lower in tannins. Perfect for summer. You'll see that most of these grapes have their homes in warmer regions -- Spain, Italy, and southern France.
Wineries are still navigating the post-pandemic world and may be making some mistakes.
There are a few post-pandemic trends in the wine business that are driving customers away, like sky-high tasting fees. There's another that may be a little harder to spot at first glance. This is wine clubs that aren't really wine clubs.
There have been several professionally written articles about the dark days ahead and plenty of Internet chatter about the coming downfall of Napa. Yes, Napa because many associate American wine with Napa Valley even though Napa only produces three to four percent of the country's wine.
Are things crashing into oblivion as anyone looking for clicks on the Internet says or is this just an adjustment?
There were a few big events that put American wine and specifically Napa Valley on the radar. Some of them have been mentioned in this blog several times. The 1976 Judgement of Paris wine tasting, the 1991 French Paradox on 60 Minutes, and the movie Sideways, released in 2004. There's another largely unforgotten TV show.
