Tag Archives: wine news

Winebits 814: Moderate drinking, Kyle Schlachter, wine prices

man looking at wine in glass
“OMG. Wine! I’m going to die!”

This week’s wine news: More of us think moderate drinking will kill us, plus Kyle Schlachter and record wine prices

• Gallup poll redux: So much for the wine business’ attempts to defend moderate drinking. Oh right. There haven’t been any. Which a second announcement from the annual Gallup drinking polls reveals: A record-high 39 percent of us believe that having one or two drinks a day is unhealthy, an 11-point increase since 2018. Also worrying or not surprising or whatever: Only 10 percent say moderate drinking is good for our health, down six points from 2018. So much for the French paradox.

• Kyle Schlachter: He replaces Doug Caskey, the long-time pal of the blog who retired earlier this year, as the executive director of the Colorado Wine Industry Development Board. Kyle is smart and savvy; we need more like him in the wine business, and he is just the sort of person who can help wine address its many problems. He is also the mayor of Littleton, Colo., so he has to listen to angry residents complain about zoning. Which may be worse than dealing with wine’s various aggravations.

• Now $108 a bottle: Wine prices jumped $17 per bottle in Napa Valley last year, and winery tasting fees increased 35 percent, according to the latest Silicon Valley Bank Direct to Consumer report. That would be $108 a bottle, while it’s “only” $57 a bottle in Sonoma. Do those figures require any more comment?

Photo: “Which Wine Has the Poison?” by therichbrooks is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Gallup alcohol survey 2023

woman in coffee shop
“You know, maybe I will give spirits a try.”

We’re drinking less, and wine remains something for women and the wealthy, neither of whom are young

The good news for the wine business in Gallup’s 2023 alcohol survey is that things aren’t much worse than they have been – so no horrible new results, just the same old bad news. American are drinking less and wine remains something only women and the wealthy like. And, of course, wine drinkers aren’t young.

Which, given the continuing bad news for wine, is actually, sort of, almost, kind of, a shot in the arm. It is worth noting that wine dropped to third behind beer and spirits in preferred alcoholic beverage; wine and spirits have been about equal in preference since 2019.

John Gillespie, who oversees the Wine Opinions consultancy, says the survey does offer “more of the same.” The growth of spirits, with the caveat that he hasn’t looked at all of the data yet, “spirits is the interesting factor – and has been for a few years.”

Among the survey highlights:

• Abstention increased from 33 percent to 38 percent, while “overindulging” remained at near historic lows. Don’t make too much of the rise in abstention; it has stayed in the same narrow band, between 35 and 40 percent, since 1982.

• Women are about three times as likely as men to say wine is their preferred beverage. Men choose beer over wine by about the same margin. However, more women than men prefer spirits. That number was about equal last year, and may indicate women are trending away from wine to spirits.

• Beer is the most preferred among all age groups, but spirits — again — are gaining on it among those 18 to 34. And wine is second to beer even among those 55 and older.

• And, if you want something to really worry about: Even among the wealthiest Americans, those with household incomes of more than $100,000, wine holds only a one-point advantage over beer. That difference was six points in 2021.

Winebits 813: Gallup poll, vine disease, wine terms

Three reporters at typewriter
“No need to stop the presses — just more of the same bad news.”

This week’s wine news: Gallup says we’re drinking less. plus NASA lends a hand in detecting vine disease, and the Old World-New World wine term debate

• Gallup poll: The 2023 Gallup alcohol survey, released on Monday, didn’t reveal many surprises — mostly just more of the same. Abstention increased from 33 percent to 38 percent, while “overindulging” remained at near historic lows (so much for all our pandemic binging). Winedrops to third behind beer and spirits in popularity, and remains a drink for women and the wealthy. I’ll have an analysis of what this all means on Thursday.

• Up in the air: An airborne science instrument developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California may help researchers spot a grapevine disease called leaf roll – not the worst of the bunch, but bad enough, causing billions of dollars in annual crop damage. The remote sensing technique may be able detect leaf roll symptoms like discolored foliage and stunted fruit a year before the signs are evident on the ground. The instrument uses infra-red imaging to search the vineyards for signs of disease.

• Wine terms: Emily Saladino, writing in Food & Wine, does a nice job dissecting the Old Word/New World wine terms dilemma, given that technology and climate change have altered the assumptions the terms are based. She does such a nice job, in fact, the WC will forgive her for using the word “schema.” As she writes: “It rather haphazardly draws lines around what is and isn’t ‘old,’ and ignores all the ways that factors like climate change, technology, and international trends shape which styles of wine are made where and how.” This was evident during the Trump wine tariff, when some European producers boosted their alcohol content to 14.5 percent to avoid the 25 percent charge. The wine they were making was hardly old word.

 

Winebits 812: Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, moral character, Rack & Riddle

Free Worried female sitting near wall with hands on head and looking at faceless female while having conflict in light room Stock Photo
“40 percent? Seriously?”

This week’s wine news: Ste. Michelle cuts grape purchases 40 percent, plus Iowa and the morally pure and Rack & Riddle expands

• More bad news: Ste. Michelle Estates, which played a key role in establishing Washington state as an important wine region, will cut grape purchases by 40 percent over the next five years. Sean Sullivan at the Northwest Wine Report says the company – best known for its Chateau Ste. Michelle wines — has already started the process, which the winery terms as adjusting “our grape supply to better align with demand and enable us to focus on crafting the highest quality premium wines from Washington.” Talk about PR speak. This, short of a Big Wine producer closing, is about as bad it gets for the wine business. It means there are too many grapes given demand, and it’s time make less wine – lots less wine.

• Only in Iowa? We’ve spent much time over the years giggling at the states’ various liquor laws (yes, that means you, Utah), but this one is among the best. Iowa won’t give non-Iowa residents a permit to make wine unless they are of good “good moral character,” and only Iowa residents can be of good enough moral character to get the permit. The information comes from a lawsuit filed by an Oregon winery to get the permit, which would allow it to sell wine directly to Iowa retailers and bypassing a wholesaler. The story is a hoot, and the lawsuit would seem – from my perspective as someone who writes about this stuff – of having no chance.

• Big expansion: This would normally be little more than a blurb on a wine industry trade site, but it goes so much against the grain of what’s happening in wine that I thought I would mention it. Rack & Riddle, which makes sparkling wine (mostly private label for retailers) is expanding because the company thinks business is going to get better. It bought a major private label bubbly producer in Lodi, almost doubling its capacity. This seems o be more than the usual growth by consolidation or an attempt to add market share at the expense of another company. Rack & Riddle thinks there is increased demand for its products. I wonder what it knows that the rest of us don’t.

Photo: Liza Summer via Pexels

Wine shipping, because it’s just that aggravating, part I

Man delivering wine
“Not in my state, you don’t.”

You know all that wine that you thought you bought legally? Maybe you didn’t

This is the first of two parts looking at wine shipping and how far we still have to go until we can legally buy what we want. Today, Part I: Bring on the lawsuits. Part II: One man’s travails with FedEx

The Tennessee attorney general has a message for those of us who buy wine over the Internet in his state – don’t. You’re breaking the law.

Last month, the attorney general, Jonathan Skrmetti, sued six out-of-state retailers who were selling alcohol to Tennessee residents. The lawsuit claimed the retailers weren’t licensed in the state, didn’t pay state taxes, and had ignored cease and desist orders.

The point here is not whether Internet wine sales are good or bad (regular readers know how I feel about that) or that every retailer who does out-of-state sales is breaking the law. Rather, it’s that enough do, and that this is the third state attorney general in the past couple of years to sue retailers for illegally selling alcohol in their jurisdictions.

And there are likely to be more, as pressure builds from our friends in the wholesale business to clamp down on Internet sales. Because, of course, these kinds of Internet sales mostly skip the three-tier system and the wholesalers don’t get their constitutionally protected piece of the pie.

How can that be, you ask? Why would anyone sell wine illegally?

Because, of course, they can – until they’re caught.

The blog’s official booze lawyer explained this to me years ago. It’s called “the title scam.” Look on the site where you buy wine, and in the small print you’ll probably find something like this: “Title to all alcoholic beverages purchased on this Site pass to you in the State of California when the goods are picked up by the common carrier.”

This is a legal fiction, in which your purchase of the wine from an out-of-state retailer is supposedly no different from buying it at the corner shop. That’s the “passes to you” bit; you take ownership of the wine from the Internet retailer as if the retailer was down the street.

Which, as the blog’s attorney said with a loud laugh, is very fictitious.

In fact, it has no legal standing at all, which is also true for other bits in website fine print, like “the customer is solely responsible for the shipment of alcohol and must abide by their local and state laws.” That’s why retailers can be sued – as has happened in Tennessee as well as Michigan and Ohio.

So far, no one has gone after the customers, though that has happened. Several years ago, Texas cracked down on illegal interstate shipments, focusing on the purchasers. I had to wend my way through the state liquor cop bureaucracy to ensure that I wouldn’t be arrested for getting samples.

So who knows what comes next?

Photo: “Man delivering online alcohol delivery order” by The Bag N Box Man LTD is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Winebits 811: UPS strike, Sting, direct to consumer

lego man and lego woman
“Sting? Really?”

This week’s wine news: There won’t be a UPS strike, plus Sting will launch new drinks brand and Texas will be safe from illegal booze shipments

• No strike: No one was more surprised than the Wine Curmudgeon when UPS agreed to a new contract with its union, averting a potentially devastating strike. If nothing else, I lost a freelance story when they settled – a full week ahead of the deadline. The employees got almost everything they asked for, including air conditioning and no more forced overtime. The wine business, as several people told me, was watching the negotiations. A strike that lasted longer than Labor Day would have started to hurt, given the approach of the holidays and the return of sample and shipping season as the weather cooled.

• Sting: I would have used this item more prominently on the old blog, since it’s just the sort of click bait that Google likes. But it’s still newsworthy: The pop singer and Police frontman is preparing to launch a new alcohol brand named after his hit “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic,” reports thedrinksbusiness website. Sting already owns a well-respected Italian vineyard; the new brand will includes wine, brandy, cider, cocktails, and spirits.

• Safe in Texas: Our friends at the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers Association have made it safer for alcohol wholesalers and retailers in Texas keep their monopoly, forging an alliance with several other trade groups to stop teenagers from buying $50 whiskey over the Internet. Seriously. How about this release, touting the alliance because it’s about “preserving public health and safety.” It will also keep huge out-of-state companies from poaching Texas business, though it doesn’t mention that the largest wholesaler in Texas has its corporate office in Miami.

Winebits 810: Aussie wine, Anchor Steam, wine accessories

man sitting at table
Man, that’s not good news from Australia.

This week’s wine news: The beginning of the end for cheap Aussie wine, plus hopes for Anchor Steam and the “ultimate” in wine accessories

• Bad, bad news: Felicity Carter, the blog’s European correspondent, writes that the future for cheap wine made Down Under is past grim. It’s a combination of declining demand, Australia’s trade feud with China, and a couple of particularly Aussie developments in the Riverland region, where much of the country’s cheap wine is made. “Under extreme financial pressure, some vineyard owners have either put their properties up for sale—or abandoned them.” The story is well worth reading, especially because there are spooky parallels to California’s Central Valley, which produces so much of similarly-priced wine in the U.S.

• Holding out hope: Anchor Steam, the 127-year-old craft brewer shuttered last week, could be bought by its employees. That’s what its union wants to do, asking Big Beer owner Sapporo USA for “a fair shot at being able to continue to do our jobs, make the beer we love, and keep this historic institution open.” The story in the link also notes that there have been feelers by other companies asking about buying the brewer, and it doesn’t look like Sapporo made much of an effort to sell Anchor before closing it.

• Only $100: The Wine Curmudgeon got a release the other day touting a $100 storage container for boxed wine. Which means the accessory only costs 15 to 20 times as much as the wine (given that most 3-liter boxes work out to the equivalent of $5 to $7 a bottle). This shocked even the WC, who thought he could no longer be shocked by the wine business. Answer me this: If the point of buying a 3-liter box is saving money, why would anyone want to spend $100 to store the box?