February 22, 2008

Whose Ready for Some Great Wine Deals?

The 2005 vintage was a GREAT year for both California winegrowers and (more importantly) the wine consumer.  With 3.76 million tons of wine grapes crushed in 2005, never before in the history of California has so much wine been produced.  

So what can California growers/wineries do with these excess grapes? 

  1. Use the grapes
  2. Sell the grapes 
  3. Don’t sell or use the grapes (trim the vines back and let the excess fall)

Most wineries and nearly all growers will not follow option three.  Why?  $$$$$

The end result is more wine on the market.  Wineries will typically do one of the following:

  1. Increase production of existing wine - EXAMPLE - Produce 14,000 cases of Cabernet Sauvignon in 2004 and Increase production to 18,000 cases in 2005. 
  2. Bottle up the excess juice and sell it under a different name/label at a lower price.  The number of 2nd labels out there are CRAZY. 
  3. Sell the grapes/juice to a winery who will either use it to increase their existing production or create a new wine altogether.

As wine consumers, we can expect to find some great deals in times like these where supply exceeds demand.   The real deals will start hitting the market at the end of 2008 when distributors and wineries are trying to unload wine in preparation for the 2006 vintage.  

Cheers!

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