Calif. Grape Glut Eases

[Craig Camp]

Prices for grapes made into wine or juice concentrate are edging up. For example, Thompson seedless are at $90 a ton, up from $65 last year. But growers say the prices remain below the cost of production.

[IrishCream]

I heard about the grape glut last year but I never saw it reflected in the prices at the many vinyards I visited in Napa (just moved here a year ago). So what is the deal? Why didn't they lower their prices in the midst of a glut?

[Mark Sommelier]

I heard about the grape glut last year but I never saw it reflected in the prices at the many vinyards I visited in Napa (just moved here a year ago).  So what is the deal?  Why didn't they lower their prices in the midst of a glut?

The grape glut that has been so widely reported about exists in the Central Coast region. Prices for prime vineyards in Napa Valley have held steady and in many cases risen. Two Buck Chuck is not a Napa wine.

[IrishCream]

In fact, I have heard that Charles Shaw wine is manufactured by one of the "Wine in a Box" companies.

[badthings]

There is no real glut of good grapes, from vines more than a few years old, from good vineyards, in good regions (including the central coast). The glut is of newly planted vines in marginal areas (i.e., the central valley).

"Charles Shaw" is made by Bronco, which is owned by a Franzia (don't know if Franzia is still owned by a Franzia, but the connection is clear enough).

Having said that the Chuck is "drinkable", I feel I need to qualify that statement. The reds are drinkable, and even interesting, in the sense that they illuminate the charateristics of wine that are easy to fabricate cheaply. These are obviously exaggerated in the Chuck, to compensate for the low quality of the grapes.

On reflection, the whites are not, in fact, drinkable. The sauvignon blanc tastes like a Heathbar that melted in a pile of sawdust. (american oak sawdust of course). I don't dare try the chard.