Get Ready For Great Deals On California Wines

A ‘Grape Glut’ Is Good News For Wine Lovers

By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com Wine & Spirits Blogger

The great “grape glut” has hit the Golden State again with supply outpacing demand, and that means to get ready for cheaper California wines.

According to the industry newsletter from the Allied Grape Growers (AGG), as much as 10% of the “grape crush” was left on the vines. While “premiumization” – a nice marketing buzzword meaning certain consumers are willing to pay premium prices for premium wines – has been up, overall shipments of wine have been down since 2015.

Cheaper, of course, does not mean cheaply-made wines. It means you can get some great deals on outstanding wines from all the California wineries, big and small.

One has to wonder how much lower wine prices can get, because you can already get very good California wines for less than $10 a bottle. At Trader Joe’s and a store I frequent in San Diego called Grocery Market, I often find fine California red blends for less than $5.

The AGG knows the solution to the overproduction of grapes, and that is simply to cut back on crops. It acknowledges this is easier said (or in this case, written) than done, of course.

“Today’s difficult grape market environment will last until we correct our oversupply situation.” it stated in its newsletter. “While there are lots of variables that come together to create the overall market, it seems certain that unless we remove a significant amount of acreage in short order, we can expect a ‘weak’ marketplace to prevail.

“Because overall wine shipments have not been growing in recent years, we simply cannot expect to ‘grow’ ourselves out of imbalance. The immediate mandate is simple – we have to ‘shrink ourselves’ back into balance.

Another solution is for consumers to consume more California wines. And with cheaper prices on the way, that’s likely to happen. But not even the most hearty of wine lovers and drink their way out of the wine glut.

So grab a bottle, sit back and enjoy the taste – and great bargains to come – of California wines.

Cheers!