Yet another victim of supply chain shortages caused by the pandemic – the wine industry.
Amidst fires and droughts, growers have yet another crisis on their hands.
Vineyards are grappling with a shortage, not of grapes, of glass for bottles.
The new shortage has become, "a huge issue right now with sourcing glass for the entire industry," said Stephanie Honig, of the Honig Vineyard & Winery in Rutherford, Napa County.
The new deficit of glass has given new weight to alternative packaging options for such a large industry in California. "There are alternative packaging – cans, boxes, but you can’t do that on the fly if you’re struggling with getting glass," said Honig.
And it’s unlikely that some consumers will be interested in purchasing what is normally a high quality wine in an elegant bottle that now comes in a box.
"There is some innovation that’s going to follow down the road," said Malik Amrani of The Vice, a small batch Napa wine brand. "But it’s going to be hard to be able to sell a luxury craft wine in some alternative packaging for now."
While growers wait for glass to become available, this year’s vintages are just going to age a bit more than usual before hitting the market.
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