Winebits 775: Glass prices, Facebook, Los Angeles wine

This week’s wine news: Energy shortages in Europe may drive up glass bottle and wine glass prices, plus Facebook and wine have something in common and a history of LA-area wine

• Blame the Russians: Glass prices — both for wine bottles and wine glasses — are going up, thanks to natural gas shortages in Europe, reports Felicity Carter in Wine Business News. Says one Italian winemaker: “A lot of suppliers are telling us take it or leave it. If you ask for 15,000 bottles, they say they can supply 3,000 and will deliver when they can.” His prices have increased twice — about 20 percent each time. The cause? The Russian invasion of Ukraine, which cut the flow of natural gas to western Europe. Most glass producers in western Europe use natural gas to power their furnaces.

• Much in common: What does Facebook have in common with wine? Its customer base is getting older and older. A recent study conducted by Pew Research Center found that U.S. Baby Boomers older than 65 increased from 26 to 40 percent of the site’s traffic. On the other hand, Millennials (1977-95) and Baby Boomers (1946-64) only rose by two percent; Gen X users — those born between 1965 and 1976 — actually decreased by two percent. So it’s  no wonder your grandchildren roll their eyes when you talk about Facebook.

• L.A. wine: Before Napa– even before Prohibition — California’s biggest wine region was in and around Los Angeles: “dozens of wineries and more than a million grapevines made up an enormous L.A. cash crop. In 1869, when L.A.’s wineries were squeezing out as much as 5 million gallons, 3 out of every 4 Los Angeles manufacturing workers were earning their pay in some fashion from the wine business.” That’s the word from Patt Morrison in the Los Angeles Times. Writes Morrison: “Around 1857, vintner Manuel Requeña and future citrus tycoon William Wolfskill sent gifts of vino to President James Buchanan, packing red and white wine, brandy and Angelica; the winemaking Sainsevains brothers sent their own rudimentary sparkling wine to the White House. In a thank-you letter from ‘Washington City,’ Buchanan thanked the freres Sainsevain and predicted a great future for California wine.”