‘SIGNS THAT WINE LIFE GOES ON’
Ob-la-Di, Ob-la-Da
BY ALAN GOLDFARB
August 29, 2025
It was my birthday recently, so I went to Kermit Lynch wine shop in Berkeley to find a good, pre-tariff Champagne to share with some dear friends who we were having dinner with. This is what the lovely, knowledgeable merchant told me when I asked how Kermit’s business was doing. From perhaps Northern California’s most astute French and Italian wine merchant around, he told me succinctly:
“We’re doing fine; very well.”
I don’t know if he was shining me on, as a good salesperson might be wont to do. But I believed hm when I further asked, “Will you be opening your planned second store in the Marin Country Mart?” The sweet and increasingly popular Larkspur outdoor shopping center is close to my home and having a Kermit in my midst is going to be a wonderful thing, I thought. But given the perceived state of the wine industry, I was skeptical of the shop ever opening in such a climate.
The salesperson told me that indeed they will be opening in Marin, likely at the end of October, beginning of November.
I was pleased to hear that. A clear sign that life in wine will go on in spite of our country’s trying signal moment.
You want another positive example that the industry is forging ahead?
I have a winery client who has been leasing several vineyards, albeit on evergreen contracts, for years. Despite the state of the economy and the other well-chronicled dark clouds, he was recently able to purchase one of those vineyards. And he is in the nascent stages of increasing that parcel’s plantings -- four-fold! Adding to his over-the-moon glee of owning for the first time, his own vineyard, the transaction will also afford him the opportunity to build his own winery and tasting room. In the 25 years over the life of his brand, he’s never had a place to vint his own wines, or had an on-site tasting room.
I think it’s a clear sign that a small, family-owned winery, can persevere in these perceived awful times.
And just this week, a report conducted by a winery management software company claims it surveyed 500 “professionals across the industry”. Its analysis gleaned some positive reactions that may be indicative of wine life surviving and perhaps even flourishing.
Innovint is a highly respected adjunct business, integral to the industry. I’ll report some of its findings here, but I’m not equipped to vouch for its efficacy as a surveyor. The report indicates it conducted the survey over the last two years. Over that period, I must say, it’s only during the last six months or so that things have taken a much darker turn. So, over the course of the last 24 months, things may look differently now.
According to the report, the most promising indices were:
- 83% of wineries report their profitability is healthy
- 52% report sales were trending up
- 62% report overall health
- 66% report positive financial health
There are negative indicators as well but – as your ever-positive winery flack – I won’t delineate them here. Why get in the way of a good story?
Note: I hope you’ve noticed in a couple of instances I refer to the current crisis as “perceived”. Given the climate of false information that has permeated every strata of our society, I strongly believe that information must be viewed with caution. Further, when one begins to believe everything or “perceive” a paradigm, it turns into reality. We may be in that state now, and while it hurts in the short-term, current belief systems will change. And for the better.