Weighed down by a weak economy, wine buyers are making fiscally conservative decisions about the wine bottles they purchase. This pattern has hurt Wine Country in the North and Central Coasts of California, where wine grapes are grown for bottles that typically sell for over $30. "The shift in consumer buying habits is depressing the marketplace for North Coast and Central Coast grapes that are traditionally priced higher," said Nat DiBuduo, president of Allied Grape Growers. "There is a push back from wineries not buying at all this year, and those that are buying are buying at lower prices. That is causing major problems for growers to market their grapes in areas where the cost of farming is high. So they need higher pricing, and they are having some serious issues."
The silver lining of this bleak situation may lie in the increase of spending for wine grapes grown in certain regions of California, such as the San Joaquin Valley. Lodi grower Joe Valente explained this increase: "It all comes down to supply and demand and what will happen with that in the next couple years, we are not sure. It seems like Lodi is well suited for the price range that we are in right now, but when the economy turns around and people get back to that higher end, we just don't know what may happen." Although wine country grape growers are struggling with the new buyers market it has never been a better time to visit Sonoma or Napa wine country.
