WINE AND ALCOHOL SALES KEEP DROPPING, BUT
After a great weekend of college basketball, we finally found ourselves motivated to write a current newsletter. We haven’t been able to get motivated because there is hardly anything happening in the entire worldwide grape industry but continuing doom and gloom. Worldwide wine & alcohol sales have dropped and continue to drop, and nobody seems to have an answer. This last month, however, we have heard from some of our customers that in January and February their sales were poor, but March turned out pretty good. There was also a speech from the president of one of the largest wineries in California, that by this fall sales could start to increase.
2024 SEASON
The imbalance of production to consumer demand in California is resulting in a call for reducing wine grape acreage by up to 50,000 acres. This goes for almost all black varieties. White grapes seem to be showing a little more demand. The only contract I have heard signed this year is with a grower with 90% white grapes and 10% black grapes. Prices for that contract will not be discussed till a later date. There are quite a few growers whose contracts were up in 2023 and had their wineries tell them they would not take their grapes in 2024. A lot of these growers have not pruned their vineyards. We have included several pictures of this phenomenon in this newsletter. We have checked with the growers that have been the backbone of our shipments over the years. They have all pruned and are farming to the high standards of past years. There are so many growers approaching us that they have grapes available. There is not much encouragement we can offer them. We anticipate prices to remain about the same as last year with the only increases due to overhead of insurance and labor costs. For the orders to distributors and home winemakers there will be an increase of $1.00 /box for shipment less than a pallet of a specific variety. The weather is a little cooler than normal, but we are going to see some temperatures in the 80s next week. There was ample rain fall this winter so irrigation issues will not be an issue.
INTERNALLY THINGS ARE CHANGING
Last year Matt and I attended the very successful Eastern Winery show in Lancaster, PA. Matt Nowak and Kevin Pitto, a third-generation grower and broker, represented F. Colavita & Son at the recent Texas convention. We thank all our southern customers for their cordiality and acceptance of our new associates. It was a wonderful experience for all concerned. Years ago, I used to attend sometimes 5 or 6 conferences and winery shows all over the country. As communications have changed with the internet, there are just a couple of industry conventions that are promoted. Please inform us of any upcoming industry conventions or exposition in your State. We would like to attend.
A VINTAGE YEAR
Last year was a very difficult year with maturity running about 3 weeks later than normal. Even though we missed the early shipments for the home winemaker, we are now so happy that we disciplined ourselves to harvest grapes at appropriate maturity. We had seen a lot of grapes packed and shipped with sugars of not more than 17 or 18 sugars. Eventually 2023 wines that were picked at their right sugars will make wines with great flavors and color. The 2023 harvest is turning out to be one of the best vintages for the State.
BEST OF THE BEST
At the 2024 North Coast Challenge this year an interesting blend won the “Best of the Best” award. The blend is 47% Sangiovese, 31% Merlot, 22% Montepulciano. We are very intrigued by this blend and may try to duplicate it in the future. We are probably the best source of these varieties to ship them out of California.
