Harsh weather hurt vineyards in Western Europe. That means world wine input will fall to it's lowest since 1961. Production has been cut from major areas of Europe, France, Spain and Italy. Prices will increase and be passed down to the consumer.
Messina Hof CEO Paul Bonarrigo says he expects the import market to see a price increase on the shelf in grocery and liquor stores pretty quickly because they'll anticipate the supply shortage and try to slow sales.
“If the challenges that are happening overseas are going to increase that import cost and therefore drive more consumers to buy domestic products and hopefully Texas wines, which would help us to take the next in growth in the market,” said Bonarrigo.
Vintage Texas President Russ Kane says Texas is one of the top three wine consuming states in the nation.
Within the past three years, America now consumes the most wine in the world.
“From those wines we’ll probably see some price increases. But, one of the things that balances that is we also get a good deal of our wine from non-European sources: South America, Chile, Argentina, New Zealand, even Australia,” said Kane.
Kane adds there's roughly 400 wineries in the state.
Bonarrigo said Texas has had a record crop this year. And, for the first time ever, Texas is establishing a bulk market and is excited to see what that means for the future.
Texas Hill Country wineries January Wiese said 90 percent of Texas wine is consumed by Texans.