Drink Lodi wine!
That message is being shouted now more than ever by winegrowers, winemakers and wine industry professionals who say a crisis is afoot.
Those who put food and beverages on the table have always dealt with challenges. But this is different. Today’s wine market is being shaped by an unprecedented confluence of factors, including waning consumer demand, a global wine glut, and economic policies that have dramatically impacted growers and wineries, especially small outfits who are finding it more and more difficult if not impossible to stay afloat.
Times are serious enough that Lodi Winegrape Commission Executive Director Stuart Spencer, who prefers to stay out of the limelight, took center stage recently by penning fascinating articles for LodiGrowers.com: “Imported Foreign Bulk Wine: The Dirty Secret No One in California is Talking About,” and “Wine Duty Drawback – Another Dirty Secret.” The headline to the story in Epoch Times is even more dramatic: “California Wineries on Brink of Losing Everything.”
Spencer’s observations are rooted in his decades of experience as a winemaker and principal at St. Amant Winery in Lodi, founded by his parents, Barbara and the late Tim Spencer.
At the risk of being too simplistic in the interest of brevity, a good chunk of the problem is the federal government’s Duty Drawback Program which incentivizes foreign bulk wine imports. Before you start bashing Biden or Trump, relax. This program pre-dates both their turns in the White House. Essentially, duties paid on bulk wine imports can be refunded to companies that export similar products. In 2022, nearly 68 million gallons of bulk wine was imported by California wineries, according to the Gomberg Fredriksen Report. The result, some 400,000 tons of California winegrapes were left on the vine in 2023.
It’s a boon for the big boys. They can buy cheap foreign bulk wine rather than pay a local grower and make it themselves. They make a killing, while local growers hold contracts worth next to nothing. These bulk wines are labeled “American Wine,” leaving consumers to wonder where they are grown and made. And another thing: importing bulk wine does nothing to forward the sustainability effort.
There is much more to the story (check out the active links above for more information).
Retailers play a role, too. As Stuart Spencer points out in the “bulk wine dirty little secret article”: “Every retailer and grocery store I visited over the past few months had their shelves stocked with foreign-sourced bulk imports. Target, Safeway, Whole Foods, Raley’s, and independent grocers all had ‘American’ wines intermixed with their domestic counterparts.
“Lodi is California’s largest producer of cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, merlot, and many more winegrape varieties. Even in the heart of Lodi wine country, our grocery store shelves are stocked with foreign bulk wine. These grocery stores depend upon the success of local winegrowers and the adjacent industries to shop and support their stores. And all the while so many retailers proudly proclaim their support for our local farms.
“The level of hypocrisy is outstanding! In no world does it make sense to ship bulk wine from across the globe to sit on a shelf in Lodi while thousands of tons of California winegrapes go unharvested and local growers remove family vineyards and take out loans to pay their farming bills. This is a call to our California retailers, grocery stores, and restaurants to start paying attention. ‘Living Local,’ ‘Farm to Fork’, and ‘Doing what is right for our community’ need to be more than just marketing slogans.”
So, what can be done? Consumers can help. Read the labels, don’t buy “American Wine.” Ask store managers, restaurant owners, and barkeeps to stock wines grown and made in Lodi. From a quality standpoint, Lodi wines are outstanding. Few appellations in the world match Lodi’s wide range of varieties and styles. And there is no region with more passionate and innovative growers and winemakers than Lodi.
Let’s see if we can avert this crisis. And always drink responsibly!