I have lived in California most of my life. My family had been involved with the wine industry since the 1930s. I'd like to talk for a few minutes about how I believe the industry will go south. I won't give a lot of background on my family. We grew raisins, wine grapes, peaches, and almonds. In the mid to late 60's we moved from raisins and peaches to varietal grapes. This is in the Central Valley of California. Napa has led and always will lead the industry here (as well they should). But something changed over the years. Gallo controls much/most of the California wine industry. You buy a bottle (even if it doesn't say Gallo, it very well may be), it says Napa Valley. A winery may be in the Napa area, it may even have 10-20 acres of a beautiful trained vineyard. It will have a rustic building and wine tasting. Great for the tourist. But here in California, we know that not all that glitters is gold!! That winery will bring in cheaper grapes/wine from other areas of California (think "Two Buck Chuck"). They will mix it with their own grapes/wine. Not all do this, but for many, that's the case. The wine industry has seen tremendous growth. Land near Napa could fetch between $60-100,000, an acre (depending on the location). This can factor in the home site and winery site. Growth has been great both internationally and domestically... The banks have wanted to get on board too...The only problem is the price of the land may have been inflated. The value of the wine may have been inflated...Unable to market their products. What I am trying to say is, that some of these banks that have closed (or the Fed propped up) are holding a lot of garbage loans in wineries. I do not believe this is like the 2008 housing crisis. Just a mini bubble/boil that needs to be popped. We'll wait and see...
interesting. i always felt like California wine tastes good initially and after a couple bottles your palate sort of adjusts and you're like.. this is bland and blah. maybe thats just the 15 dollar bottles