200 to 400 New U.S. Wineries Each Year

[Craig Camp]

The quantity of licensed wineries in the US has zoomed 105% since 1995, federal figures show.

[Brad Ballinger]

Not all, but a good deal of these are "celebrity" wineries. And I don't mean established celebrities, I mean wannabe bigshots. Someone is successful in some area of business and decides to fulfill a dream (either lifelong or recent) and make wine. But they are businesspeople first and winemakers second. So they look at the pro forma and figure they have to charge large amounts of money to make it "work."

[LindaJ]

This is interesting because it shows that lots of wineries are being established in states other than CA. Being in PA, I'm just delighted that there are local wineries that offer very drinkable selections that aren't an arm and a leg. For daily consumption, who needs overpriced Napa stuff? With the increasing emphasis on the slow food and sustainable agriculture movements affecting the way we eat, I think we'll see more of this as people want "home grown" wine to go with their dinners.

[Brad Ballinger]

This is interesting because it shows that lots of wineries are being established in states other than CA.  Being in PA, I'm just delighted that there are local wineries that offer very drinkable selections that aren't an arm and a leg. For daily consumption, who needs overpriced Napa stuff?  With the increasing emphasis on the slow food and sustainable agriculture movements affecting the way we eat, I think we'll see more of this as people want "home grown" wine to go with their dinners.

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You make a great point. We can't assume all of these are in California, which is where I first went. There are many showing up in all states.

[herbacidal]

Not all, but a good deal of these are "celebrity" wineries.  And I don't mean established celebrities, I mean wannabe bigshots.  Someone is successful in some area of business and decides to fulfill a dream (either lifelong or recent) and make wine.  But they are businesspeople first and winemakers second.  So they look at the pro forma and figure they have to charge large amounts of money to make it "work."

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Yea, I'm speculating that wineries have replaced the bed and breakfast, as the "dream career change" for mid-life career couples / singles.

The idea of charging "large amounts of money" does make a reasonable amount of sense, since I'm assuming wineries spend a lot of money up front to get up and running before they take in a single dollar of revenue, much like restaurants.

The goal of bringing in as much money as quickly as possible is fair.

That said, making that decision without correctly analyzing the market is folly as well.

[docsconz]

The other aspect about charging a lot of money is the cache one receives from having an expensive wine

Seriously, this would be a major aspect for those doing so for the ego gratification. An expensive wine is supoosed to be a good wine whether or not it is. Conversely, if the wine is too cheap then the suggestion is that it must not be too good. Obviously, this is not necessarily true for any given wine.