Instagram says 18 acres planted, with license to produce 20k gallons:
It looks like the state of the Wine market is coming to roost in other ways. This is the first I’ve heard of this.
4 Likes
Not sure how reliable this chart is. I was curious about Rome, GA since it’s in the middle of nowhere and I hadn’t heard about anything weird going on there. Home pricing seems to be stable or increasing over the past few months. It’s actually doing better than most other areas in Metro Atlanta.
It’s reliable but the y-o-y declines aren’t huge currently. What happens next? Tbd
It comes from cotality which used to be CoreLogic. They show inventory has risen 40% over last year and that there was a disconnect between asking places and what things are actually selling for now. The increase in inventory levels is giving buyers more negotiating power.
Buyers are now in a position where they can look to more aggressively negotiate seller credits to help them with buying down the mortgage rate and increasing their purchasing power.
1 Like
Auction prices on old world wines seem firm to me, up 10% or more recently. I play in some auctions and I’m not seeing the same deals as I did over the past year. I would guess tariffs and the availability of wine that is already in the US is a big factor. California and other US wines are still as weak as ever. So much for tariffs helping US producers. It seems to me like buyers are just paying up for old world wines
9 Likes
Good interview with Rodney from Peltier Wines in Lodi, one of the midsize producers there. I used to take fruit from across the street of their estate vineyard from Steve Lauchland (when he was still alive) for some of my earlier Zins.
2 Likes
That’s Red Newt!
That’s crazy.
1 Like
I agree. I’ve seen demand firming for Burg wines I buy. Likewise the demand for US wines I am holding has disappeared. I’ve been trying to exit a bunch of California / Oregon wines due to cellar size/ taste change and there are literally still no bids
Isn’t Rome carpet industry country? Could be a factor. There have been articles about environmental effects in the area from carpet production.
That’s Dalton.
1 Like
Single serve bottles as a panacea for the market woes? Yikes. https://winetitles.com.au/gwm/
Rome’s also affected: https://www.wabe.org/inside-the-toxic-legacy-of-georgias-multibillion-dollar-carpet-empire/
Saw this article from WineParis this morning and one interesting stat stood out from research done on 'fine wine drinkers worldwide and trends being seen. Granted, this is a relatively limited study, but here’s the fact that was fascinating to me:
One of the most consequential findings concerns gender. Among fine wine buyers aged 25 and under, women represent roughly 44% of participants. Yet by ages 41 to 55, that share dropped to just 17%. The issue is not initial interest — it’s retention.
If nearly half of the youngest cohort is female, but participation declines sharply later in life, the industry faces a structural opportunity. Are pricing structures, allocation norms, and event formats unintentionally filtering women out as their careers and family dynamics evolve? Vicard argues that if fine wine wants to alter its downward trajectory, it must redesign pathways to keep women engaged over time.
That doesn’t tell the entire story obviously, but everything folks are pointing to is ‘generational as a whole’ but perhaps folks need to dig deeper?
3 Likes
Strikes me that there are volumes to be written about this statistic. The old picture of the cultured male oenophile trying to pull his reluctant, obstinately under-appreciative, under-refined, often sweeter wine-loving (like that’s always a bad thing) wife into fine wine knowledge doesn’t reflect reality and creates hurdles for women to get into wine. This, during a season of life when there are so many diverse demands on their time.
They were already into wine, but interest was lost. I am seeing this personally in my own life. I know several women who cut back as they began to enter middle/late middle age. Health and weight control are absolutely factors that are less a concern when one is a carefree and “immortal” youth. I’ve never once heard that women don’t have interest in drinking wine due to gender oppression issues.
2 Likes
Maybe I’m missing some context, but it doesn’t seem like it’s the same cohort in both age groups. As such, not sure how one can conclude the issue is retention.
2 Likes
This doesn’t seem to be an accurate description of the dynamic at all.
Wine enthusiast communities do have dynamics that tend to prune women from their ranks but it doesn’t seem to anything to do with sophistication or refinement, perceived or otherwise.
That’s in addition to women dropping consumption faster than men as age increases.
Agree, you need a cohort study to determine that the issue is retention. Otherwise, it’s just as valid to conclude that the current generation of young men are buying less wine because they’re drinking beer or spirits instead (or drinking less alcohol in general) which from my observation does appear to be the case.
2 Likes
Since Larry’s figures are buyers, not necessarily consumers, perhaps there is another explanation: Perhaps it’s because these women tend to get married in that span and their husbands end up dominating the wine choices. It’s just a hunch, but I think that could be part of the explanation.
3 Likes