Over the last year or so, I'd say that the number one conversation I would have with people in the tasting area of our winery had to do with the state of the wine industry. There had been so much coverage of the "younger generation" not drinking or people cutting back on alcohol consumption for this reason or that.
To be honest, anyone can find some amount of data to support their supposition. But there is more and more information coming out that is starting to explain some of the feelings people have been having. Even over a year ago when Maggie and I attended the WiVi Show in Paso Robles (Wine Symposiums for smaller winery issues), the polling showed that the younger generation is still enjoying wine (and finding it more aspirational than other alcoholic products), but it is a crowded marketplace in the beverage industry (lots of choices).
A few weeks ago, Wine Business Monthly, the gold standard for wine business information, printed its compilation of winery polling regarding foot traffic in the wineries (as well as Wine Club attrition, etc.). What was interesting was that, yes, there are foot traffic and revenue declines still happening out there for wineries. The decline overall, though, is slowing. That is good news for the industry, both for wineries and grape growers.
In other articles, there is a thought that the wine industry is balancing out again to pre-Covid levels. In other words, Covid produced a surge in consumption that would be temporary. Now that we aren't stuck in our houses by ourselves, alcohol consumption is lowering to its pre-Covid level. The "forever" trend of growth in wine consumption may continue at its slower pace.
But getting back to the Wine Business Monthly article, the takeaway is that not all wineries or regions are feeling the same impact. When I would talk to people tasting at Madroña, people talked about wineries being down 35%-40%. We weren't seeing this at all.
The article supports that some regions have seen, for a variety of reasons, drastic downturns in visitations. So Napa was down 18%, Sonoma was down 8% and the Central Coast was down 12%. However, other parts of California (which would include our region) were up 12% in visitations (and visitations equal sales!). Now figuring out why visitations are up in the "other parts of California" versus the bigger named regions is complicated. It could be the price of the tasting experience. It could be the price of the wine being purchased. It can also be people searching out something new.
As for the El Dorado appellation, I think we are particularly well-positioned to impress the wine-consuming public. Remember that the Sierra Foothills was listed as the #1 undiscovered (or under-appreciated) wine region by some wine writers last year. And with the focus the El Dorado 8 and the El Dorado Winery Association bring to the region (and the value of the wine up here in the mountains), wine tourism here will continue to buck the trends seen elsewhere.
That's the hope, and that's something we all can raise a glass to!