California North Coast wineries quickly turning to other direct sales as tasting rooms shuttered in battle against pandemic

Big Wine, News, Tourism / November 1, 2020

California North Coast wineries quickly turning to other direct sales as tasting rooms shuttered in battle against pandemic

North Bay Business Journal 

JEFF QUACKENBUSH
March 17, 2020, 2:47PM
Even as North Coast vintners started complying over the weekend with public-health directives to shutter certain consumer-facing venues in California to slow the viral outbreaks, local wineries already were turning to alternatives for that major stream of revenue for many of them.

Napa Valley’s Trinitas Winery had been ramping other direct-to-consumer sales channels as foot traffic started falling in recent weeks to its tasting salon in Vista Collina Resort, a newly built Napa food, wine and lodging venue. And Trinitas wasn’t alone. Tasting room sales for U.S. vintners in February and early March were down 22% from a year before, according to Napa-based Wine Direct, which manages tasting room point-of-sale systems for about 900 wineries.

“We’re really focused on online sales, which are coming in really solid now,” said Sonyia Grabski, general manager of Trinitas.

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