The Great Wine Supply Chain Kerfuffle of 2021

Or, why the wine you want to buy this holiday season may not be on the store shelf

Who knew the term “supply chain” would become au courant this holiday season? But that’s the case, thanks to the pandemic, short-sighted management among the world’s biggest companies, and a variety of technical stuff that I never thought I would be writing about.

The upshot? Wine, like cars, toys, and computers, may be in short supply this holiday season. You can read two (yes, two) freelance stories I wrote about the situation here and here. And a shout out to my pal Dave McIntyre at the Washington Post, who predicted all of this five months ago.

The highlights of the Great Wine Supply Chain Kerfuffle of 2021:

• Short supply does not necessarily mean shortages and bare shelves. It means retailers will keep rotating products to occupy shelf space. So there will be cabernet sauvignon and Champagne, but not necessarily the cabernet sauvignon and Champagne you want to buy. That means brands and labels you may not have heard of before.

• Sales and discounts? Few, if any, and especially on the most popular items.

• This isn’t just about imports. Domestic wine has been affected, too. One California retailer told me he’s having trouble getting California wine; a California producer said he’s having trouble getting his wine to his wholesalers, who are having trouble getting it to retailers. Apparently, there’s a trucking shortage that pre-dates the pandemic, and which has just gotten worse over the past 18 months.

• There’s no rhyme or reason to any of this. Supply may be fine in some parts of the country; there may be significant bare spots in other parts.

Finally, my favorite part of all of this: The Chicago freight company that broke into a warehouse at O’Hare airport to “steal” its own goods.