Winebits 700: Sunday wine sales, tasting room fees, imported wine

This week’s wine news: Texans will be able to buy wine at 10 a.m. on Sunday, plus a hike in California tasting room fees and imported wine takes a hit

• Bring on the wine: Texans will be able to buy wine at the supermarket at 10 a.m. on Sunday on their way to church, thanks to legislation passed last week. Previously, we had to wait until noon, when church ended. The bill may have been been a compromise to stop Sunday liquor store sales; it’s illegal in Texas for liquor stores to open on Sunday, and has been since 1935. Because, of course, church. A bill to allow liquor stores to open on Sunday failed to pass yet again, at least the fifth bill in the past decade to do so. Still, we have cocktails-to-go if we need a belt of whiskey on Sunday.

• Up, up, and up: The average price for a standard tasting fee has almost doubled in five years to $58 in Napa County and $30 in Sonoma County. That’s good news just in time for a revival of wine tourism, yes? Wine-searcher reports the details from Silicon Valley Bank’s 2021 Direct-to-Consumer Wine Survey Report. The average tasting fee in the U.S. is $25, according to the report. Washington state wineries charge the least – just $15. And many wineries report having a higher “reserve tasting” fee, which averages $90 in Napa and $50 in Sonoma.

• Down and down: The global pandemic, on-premise shutdowns, and the Trump tariff sunk imported wine shipments to the U.S. last year, reports Shanken News Daily. Imported table wine shipments to the U.S. fell almost nine percent in 2020. Which, of course, is to be expected for anyone paying attention. Italy accounted for more than one-third of U.S. imports, making it the top foreign wine importer.

Photo: Oleg Magni via Pexels