The NYT has a fascinating story about the wine woes of our gargantuan sister state to the south:
(note: this photo did not run with the article; I found the photo separately)
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/17/dining/17napa.html?pagewanted=1&emc=etal
Their, and my, points:
1. Wineries are seeing declines of 25%, 30% and as much as 40% in sales.
2. Most wineries sell most of their production to distributors, and don't use social media
to build their direct sales markets (their direct sales are mostly to winery visitors). Consultants are encouraging wineries to grow their social media marketing.
3. Profit margins are better in direct sales to consumers, but additional staff is required for more and smaller shipments. I would add that it's not as efficient, in terms of carbon footprint, for a winery to ship many small packages to diverse locations, compared to, say, shipping all of the wines bound for Texas to Austin, from which they can be shipped on to retailers and consumers who live closer to that distribution hub.
4. With previous vintages piled up in winery warehouses, some wineries are seriously considering just letting the 2010 vintage grapes rot on the vines. If a winery has debt to service, you can imagine how devastating that would be.
. . . and I have no idea why someone would just flood a winery floor with thousands of gallons of fermenting wine . . . (vandals? hose popped off? irrecoverable infection in the wine, and it's being poured down the floor drain? market so weak it can't be sold? Normal blowoff of lees remaining in the bottom of the tank? (but it doesn't look milky or chunky enough)). Why would he wear a ski mask? If he's a vandal, why would he allow a photo of his crime to be taken? This world is a strange place.
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