Wine Buzz: Industry's sipping in tough times
If 2009 was the year the wine industry tanked, 2010 promises something like a hangover.
That was the buzz at last week's Unified Wine & Grape Symposium at the Sacramento Convention Center and the Hyatt Regency – four days when the wine industry descended on Sacramento to view any number of PowerPoint presentations on trends and to hobnob as wine folk do.
Some results from 2009 truly called for a drink. California wine shipments were down an estimated 4 million cases, nearly 4 percent, from 2008 – the first time California wine shipments had slipped in 16 years. Pundits at Unified don't expect the industry to recover until 2011, but a few bright spots have emerged. California's top seven wine producers, including Constellation and E.&J. Gallo, grew overall by 6.9 million cases in 2009.
Meanwhile, with wine sales off by 6 percent to 10 percent nationally at restaurants, the rest of the wine industry was probably reaching for Alka-Seltzer or another splash in their glasses. No wonder so many folks crammed the Convention Center last Wednesday for regional wine tastings in the late afternoon.
Entrepreneurs and wheeling-and-dealing also filled the Convention Center exhibit hall. About 600 exhibitors showed off their latest wares and services, from corks and financial consultants to barrels and bottling lines, making it all look like the Willy Wonka wine factory.
You could walk to the front of Aisle 100 and see one of the mightiest machines at the trade show: the Pellenc 8390 grape harvester. This bad boy stands more than 12 feet tall, with an onboard grape-sorting table and bins that can hold nearly a ton of grapes each. The price? Upward of $350,000.
On the third floor in Booth 2311, the makers of SanTasti touted their new palate-cleansing beverage. The company is in its third bottling run, producing 2,000 cases and looking to land some new accounts.
"We've gathered hundreds of business cards," said Andrew Macaluso, SanTasti's chief executive officer. "We're excited to see what kind of sales we can get."
The panels and breakout sessions gave a chance to rest those feet from walking the trade show – and get filled in with the latest issues and practical tips for the wine industry. Hot topics for 2010 included discussions on water management, global supply and demand, and ideas about making winery tasting rooms more profitable.
We ran into Joseph Lange of Lodi's Lange Twins Winery & Vineyards after a panel titled "Looking Forward: How Consumers Find Information and Inspiration for Their Wine Purchases." Moderator Courtney Cochrane of San Francisco's Hip Taste Communications set the tone, talking about the rise of foodie and wine culture despite the so-called hangover economy.
The overall message: Younger generations are driving growth, and wineries need to do a better job connecting with them, especially online.
"(Unified) is about getting new ideas and also seeing what you shouldn't do," said Lange. "I also went to a good panel on social media that reinforced some things that we have to do at the winery. I got a Flip video camera about a year ago but have only done four videos. It's like, 'C'mon, get with it, Joe!' "
"There are so many options at Unified that it's dizzying," he added. "How many barrels and tractors can there be? But this all gives you an opportunity to interact with people whom you might want to work with, and talk about what we're all doing."
FACTS, FIGURES WORTH A SIP
Four-day attendance at Unified 2010: 11,700
Wine glasses used: 10,000
Hotel rooms booked: 3,000-plus
Number of bottles poured during a two-hour regional wine tasting: 1,100
Speakers for panels and workshops: 100-plus
Number of people needed to organize Unified 2010: 10 contracting companies and 100-plus staff members
Number of countries attendees came from: 31, including Afghanistan and South Africa.
Dates for next Unified: Jan. 25-27, 2011