There was a time, in what now seems like the distant past, that going wine tasting was essentially free.\u00a0 There was no charge for sips of wine served in glasses the size of egg cups.\u00a0 And the only place that anyone had ever heard of to taste wine in the United States was Napa Valley.<\/p>\n
There never was any reason why the wineries should have given away their product, but they considered it to be marketing.\u00a0 With the sales of bottles to some of the tasters (either in appreciation of the wine or guilt over taking something for nothing), it must have been close to break-even.\u00a0 In recent decades, wine tasting has become an activity that attracts hordes of adult tourists and it has become normal for wineries to charge for tastings.\u00a0 In many cases the cost of a regular tasting was nominal and reserve tastings cost somewhat more.<\/p>\n
The past few years have seen a series of crises in Napa Valley.\u00a0 The greatest calamity, of course, was the Covid pandemic that has taken more than a million lives in the United States.\u00a0 It closed wineries for tasting and when restrictions were lifted, for a time only outdoor seated tastings were permitted.\u00a0 Then there were the terrible fires in 2020 that wiped out a year\u2019s worth of grapes \u2013 and the resulting revenue \u2013 for many producers.\u00a0 Finally, an inflationary surge sent the prices for fuel and equipment higher.\u00a0 The increased costs, plus making up for the lost harvest, have been passed along to consumers in the cost of wine and of tastings.<\/p>\n
The result has been tasting fees that make visiting some of the better-known wineries impractical for a wide swath of wine enthusiasts.\u00a0 No matter how gracious the service, the quality of the wines or the overall entertainment value, a fee of $100 or more is going to be prohibitive for many visitors.\u00a0 Only the well-heeled need apply.<\/p>\n
In the short term, this may enable the wineries to bring in more revenue, while managing their labor costs.\u00a0 But over the longer term, many young people \u2013 tomorrow\u2019s best customers \u2013 will be driven away.\u00a0 They may head for other venues or other drinks; there is no shortage of bars and microbreweries in California or elsewhere.\u00a0 This trend will also lead, over time, to reduced sales in the stores and in the bars.<\/p>\n
We at Power Tasting<\/em> urge the winery owners to create programs for those who would like to learn about wine but cannot afford the high process in Napa Valley.\u00a0 This might take the form of discounts, reduced prices at slower periods or outreach to populations that are not known for their wealth.\u00a0 It\u2019s good business and it\u2019s only fair.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There was a time, in what now seems like the distant past, that going wine tasting was essentially free.\u00a0 There was no charge for sips of wine served in glasses the size of egg cups.\u00a0 And the only place that anyone had ever heard of to taste wine in the United States was Napa Valley. … Continue reading Editorial: Napa Valley Wine Tasting for the Many or the Few?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2369"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2369"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2369\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2370,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2369\/revisions\/2370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}