Sonoma/Napa Winery News

 Current happenings, mostly related to the slowdown in wine visitation.

 

click on image to enlarge

 

The local wine grape harvest will be the earliest in 40 years and will be a light crop. See more about this in an earlier blog post.

In 2026 some of the big guys, Gallo, Constellation, and  Kendall Jackson have closed up local facilities. Treasury is consolidating and closing facilities in Sonoma, Napa, and the Central Coast. They wish to offload over half of their brands, but who's buying? Many are nervous that some of their wineries will close. For now, some of the big names, Beaulieu, Beringer, Sterling, and Etude are not on the sell list.

Abbott's Passage, a family-owned winery in Sonoma Valley that opened in 2020,  recently shut its doors.

I've seen free tastings in Sonoma County to get visitors in. Also, 30% to 50% off of wine deals in both Sonoma and Napa. This is when it pays to be on the mailing list of your favorite wineries as this is usually where you hear about these sales.

Tasting rooms are opening for happy hour with bites and wines by the glass. Many are bringing in music along with the happy hour or maybe with a food truck either during the day or after normal tasting room hours. There are even book clubs and wine and music paring events. 

Also, wineries are coming up with expensive immersive options. That is, they are looking for people willing to spend and they want to keep them around for awhile to draw them in. These include lunches in the vineyard, or vineyard tours in motorized or pedal-powered vehicles. The people with higher income are still buying wine so you'll see more events geared towards the high roller at wineries that have a high roller line of wine. Younger drinkers will scream, "Hey, what about us?" But for now it's survival mode for many.

from Visit Napa Valley