|
Sky Rocketing Tasting Fees
As we update our Napa Valley Winery Tour iPhone App we pull information from many sources. One of the nice features in our app is the review link. Just today we received two comments about wineries that have increased their tasting fees and that represents part of a trend, sky rocketing tasting fees.
Wineries are not just incrementally raising their fees, but in many cases doubling and tripling fees. That’s quite a surprise when you walk through the door. This is happening at wineries that are in that difficult price range, $30 to $80 for a bottle, that has been so hard hit by the financial crunch. With their overall sales down they need to find ways to fill out their income.
Another factor is the popularity of wine country among the Millennial Generation. The 20 something’s love to coming to wine country and will happily spring for the reserve tastings, the food pairings and all of the other more expensive opportunities, but they don’t buy much wine. Their parents, the Boomers do the less expensive tasting and even share them among a couple, but then leave with a case of wine.
It may be that the wineries that are most popular with the Millennial Generation are the first ones to raise their prices. Bouchaine, Robert Sinskey, Alpha Omega are all popular with the younger crowd and they all bumped their prices up significantly. Considering that the number of tastings being converted to sales may be dropping, raising the tasting fees might be the best idea.
Ralph & Lahni de Amicis are authors of the Amicis Winery Guides, and owners of Amicis Tours. They are authors of over twenty books on health, design, business and travel. Their iPhone Apps, The Napa Valley Wine Tour, and The Sonoma Winery Tour are a tour guides approach to these beautiful area, complete with 1000’s of photos and insights. Their articles and products can be found on the sites
| 