In Napa All Californians Receive Wine Discounts During January 2025
The California Winery sales slump continues into 2025 forcing vintners to rethink estate wine tasting and sales strategies. They want you to visit because they can’t sell you wine unless they entertain you in their tasting room.
And, they’re willing to cut pricing with discounts, specials and case sales (think 50% off mixed cases) to incentivize your visit.
| San Francisco Restaurants Declining Beverage Sales 2024 Red Wine -11.9% Whiskey -9.3% Sparkling wine -8.6% Tequila -6.3% Vodka -6% Beer -6% White wine -4.7% Mocktails +1.8% (Reported by Toast Software) |
One method has popped up in Napa Wine Country with some 80+ wineries offering 2-for-1 tastings during January.
Napa wineries offer locals this discount year-round. Participating wineries catering to locals have offered the Napa Neighbor discount for 10+ years. So now, for the first time ever, you’re a Napa Neighbor while living in California. Bring your ID. Their program, California Resident Napa Neighbors offers wine tasting discounts and purchases. You’ll find the participating wineries here.*
Why would the home of California Cabernet Sauvignon offer discounts while they’re known as a premium producer? Because sales are declining. Total winery direct-to-consumer shipment volume in November declined -12% compared to last year to 747,509 cases while value slipped -7% to $551 million, according to data by Wine Business Analytics and SovosShipCompliant. Confirming the decline, Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) documents on-site dining wine sales dropping -7.9% in US this past year. They find spirits declining -4.9% over the last year in restaurants and bars.
| So this begs the question, ‘Is the declining trend line driven by price point fatigue, DUI concerns or simply changing tastes within demographic groups: Boomers, Gen X and Gen Y?’ |
The pain continues forcing wine purveyors to rethink their product. Sales in all alcohol categories tracked by software company Toast declined during 2024, but none as dramatically as red wine at -11.9%. You can see the numbers nearby. The only drink growing during the year? Mocktails, which were up by 1.8%.
Another indicator of slowing wine consumption, San Francisco’s high end restaurants are changing their pricing. To stem declines some restaurants are rethinking how they sell beverages. The Chronicle documents Rich Table restaurant advertising 1-ounce pours of Champagne for $6 and 1/2 glasses of any variety for ($8-$13.)
It’s so bad in The City, one restaurant hasn’t reordered replacement wines according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Their last order was May, 2024. So, the wholesale distributors of wine are hurting and the pain goes down the food chain to winemakers and growers.
So this begs the question, ‘Is the declining trend line driven by price point fatigue, DUI concerns or simply changing tastes within demographic groups: Boomers, Gen X and Gen Y?’ Are people choosing to pay for beverages in a bar, restaurant or pour their own at home? We’ll keep digging through data to report back to you.
In the meantime keep an eye out on your favorite wine country’s discount offerings. We suspect this trend will spread throughout California, Oregon and Washington. We’re wondering when Paso Robles wineries will see the light and offer local friendly specials.
*Napa Valley Vintners Association office advises to verify a winery is participating in the Napa Neighbor program when you make your reservation. They suggest some winery front line tasting room people are unaware managers opted into this program. You know, the old ‘Left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing‘ thing.
Some notes on our wine ranking system.
Bill & Erin Hodge write about California Wine, the estates & winemakers producing them and educational information about Vino. Living in California Wine Country provides a front row seat to the places you want to visit the most here in the Golden State.
– -✰ means -What’s next on your list of wines
-✰ means -Not liking it too much
✰ means -We’ll drink this wine, especially if it’s hosted!
✰+ means -You’ve got our attention and we might buy this wine.
✰+ + means -We’re hooked and we’re going to buy this wine.
When you see -✰/✰+ with a slash, it means we disagree.
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