I spent last weekend hanging out in Sonoma with some friends planning some really cool stuff that you will hear about in a week or so, but the house we stayed in is in the middle of a large vineyard. As we sat on the back patio around the fire pit amongst the vines, Mark said, “Ya, it doesn’t suck to live here”.
All around us were thousands of vines each with tiny clusters of grapes starting to form. These tiny berries are the size of a coarse salt crystal and over the months they will continue to grow until eventually they will be turned into wine, well hopefully that is.
You see, California has had a series of bumper crops, winery tanks are full, barrels are full and many growers are losing contracts because the wineries don’t have any excess capacity for more fruit. Grapes are a commodity and the prices are driven by supply and demand. This is going to set up a rollercoaster in the grape marketplace.
With excess fruit available the price of grapes may drop, but if the weather impacts the fruit set or sets up mold and mildew conditions the supply will drop forcing the price back up unless the wineries don’t buy – then the price will drop unless consumer demand increase causing a rise in price. Hang on to your boots, it is going to be a fun ride.
Even though it rained on and off the whole weekend, we still had a great time strolling through the vineyards, looking at the vineyards, getting fairly muddy and drinking some fine wine. One morning there was a break in the weather and I spent a few moments meditating in the vineyards soaking up some Zen amongst the spectacular views and I agree with Mark, it doesn’t suck.
It looks like we will be bringing down some Sonoma fruit again this year. We will also start bottling some our 2018 Sonoma Pinot Noir and 2018 Sonoma Zinfandel in mid-August so look forward to those releases. We are super excited about these wines.
Also, be on the lookout for some really cool news about this fantastic charity project that Koi Zen is involved in over the next few weeks; we (that includes you) are going to make a huge impact in a lot of people’s lives.
Cheers,