Temecula - 4 new wineries?!
A new way to rid yourself of sharpshooters: pave everything & plant houses!
They haven't yet gotten the Glassy-winged Sharpshooters (GWSS) under control, and yet the desire is to plant more vines? Aren't they just feeding the fire by providing more habitat for these pests?
You can bet your last dollar on the fact that Callaway would still be farming the 330 acres in question - if there was any money to be made on it.
The fact of the matter is that Temecula is a fading player in the California wine scene. That appellation hasn't ever sold well...and the wines don't really command much of the total market share outside of itself. The plague of Pierce's disease, exacerbated by the ideal climate for the GWSS, has been the latest nail in that coffin.
So let's see...
The homes would be nestled among 60 acres of newly planted vineyards and likely cost between $1 million and $2 million each. Stephenson said the vineyards are a key component of the development and would be farmed and managed by Ben Drake of Drake Enterprises Inc. of Temecula.
Translation:...they want to charge $1~2 mil just for the privilege of sitting on your veranda and watching the 'newly planted vineyards' wither from the sharpshooters onslaught?
The residential part of the plan ---- Temecula Vineyard Estates ---- would feature 58 5-acre home sites immediately north of Hart and Callaway wineries in a gated community with the main entry located along Butterfield Stage Road. A secondary gate would be situated along La Serena Way.
Nice...the poor farm workers making 25¢ per 40# grape lug they haul have to drive thru/past this ritzy gated community to get to the winery and vineyards to work? Ohhhh...the irony!
Lastly, the plan is for 4 new wineries to be created, each on 10 acres of it's own vineyards (which would support ~3,300 cases of production just by itself).
Wait! 4 new wineries? and each is only 'boutique' sized? How're they going to make that work when the larger wineries in that same appellation aren't doing that great in getting market share and the new players don't have a war chest to advertise with? That's the type of thing that becomes a marketing nightmare...
There's a reason Callaway isn't farming those acres anymore...and it's not because they need more wineries to increase the competition...
They haven't yet gotten the Glassy-winged Sharpshooters (GWSS) under control, and yet the desire is to plant more vines? Aren't they just feeding the fire by providing more habitat for these pests?
You can bet your last dollar on the fact that Callaway would still be farming the 330 acres in question - if there was any money to be made on it.
The fact of the matter is that Temecula is a fading player in the California wine scene. That appellation hasn't ever sold well...and the wines don't really command much of the total market share outside of itself. The plague of Pierce's disease, exacerbated by the ideal climate for the GWSS, has been the latest nail in that coffin.
So let's see...
The homes would be nestled among 60 acres of newly planted vineyards and likely cost between $1 million and $2 million each. Stephenson said the vineyards are a key component of the development and would be farmed and managed by Ben Drake of Drake Enterprises Inc. of Temecula.
Translation:...they want to charge $1~2 mil just for the privilege of sitting on your veranda and watching the 'newly planted vineyards' wither from the sharpshooters onslaught?
The residential part of the plan ---- Temecula Vineyard Estates ---- would feature 58 5-acre home sites immediately north of Hart and Callaway wineries in a gated community with the main entry located along Butterfield Stage Road. A secondary gate would be situated along La Serena Way.
Nice...the poor farm workers making 25¢ per 40# grape lug they haul have to drive thru/past this ritzy gated community to get to the winery and vineyards to work? Ohhhh...the irony!
Lastly, the plan is for 4 new wineries to be created, each on 10 acres of it's own vineyards (which would support ~3,300 cases of production just by itself).
Wait! 4 new wineries? and each is only 'boutique' sized? How're they going to make that work when the larger wineries in that same appellation aren't doing that great in getting market share and the new players don't have a war chest to advertise with? That's the type of thing that becomes a marketing nightmare...
There's a reason Callaway isn't farming those acres anymore...and it's not because they need more wineries to increase the competition...
posted by Anonymous at 6:40 AM
4 Comments:
I've seen spec homes in Marin County where the developer puts a quarter acre of vines (Tompson Seedless?) in the yard to give that "Gentleman Farmer" feel. I wonder what happens when the new owners realize a vineyard is no rose garden?
Temecula wineries have:
1. 18 million people who live within one hour's drive
2. These people are always looking to do something fun for a day
It's a daunting puzzle, isn't it?
"They haven't yet gotten the Glassy-winged Sharpshooters (GWSS) under control, and yet the desire is to plant more vines? Aren't they just feeding the fire by providing more habitat for these pests?"
The GWSS has more than 200 host plants and trees that harbor xyllela. Look it up. Should they all be taken out to get rid of habitat?
"You can bet your last dollar on the fact that Callaway would still be farming the 330 acres in question - if there was any money to be made on it."
There is good money in vinyards, to be sure, but WAY MORE money in real estate. They should be lauded for preserving open space and vineyards. The alternative is the usual SoCal urban sprawl.
"The fact of the matter is that Temecula is a fading player in the California wine scene. That appellation hasn't ever sold well...and the wines don't really command much of the total market share outside of itself. The plague of Pierce's disease, exacerbated by the ideal climate for the GWSS, has been the latest nail in that coffin."
The ideal climate is where grapes grow. Temecula had the balls to warn others. Forget market share. Local sales are very good. Not all wineries need to sell wine from store shelves or restaurants to survive. V. Sattui is a good case study.
"They want to charge $1~2 mil just for the privilege of sitting on your veranda and watching the 'newly planted vineyards' wither from the sharpshooters onslaught?"
One to two million is nothing in CA anymore. Try it in Napa, call your agent.
They can always replant a bit. The sky is not falling. You need to separate the hyperbolic rhetoric from researchers and growers (required to secure funding) from the reality. Look at the vineyards down there. They look fine, Admire helps.
"...the poor farm workers making 25¢ per 40# grape lug they haul have to drive thru/past this ritzy gated community to get to the winery and vineyards to work? Ohhhh...the irony!"
I am assuming this argument was just to add color to your post, since we all know it applies to the entire agribusiness world.
"Lastly, the plan is for 4 new wineries to be created, each on 10 acres of it's own vineyards (which would support ~3,300 cases of production just by itself).
Wait! 4 new wineries? and each is only 'boutique' sized? How're they going to make that work when the larger wineries in that same appellation aren't doing that great in getting market share and the new players don't have a war chest to advertise with? That's the type of thing that becomes a marketing nightmare..."
Wineries can buy grapes from outside sources. So the estate acreage is not a limit on production.
The wine business is not limited to a single model, in Temecula or elsewhere.
Some wineries, the likes of Callaway, mostly fight it out on supermarket shelves. Some, like Viansa, rely on direct sales and wine club sales. The latter does very little advertising. So just because Callaway is experiencing a drop in sales does not mean that the direct sales guys are suffering.
Don't forget the advantages of avoiding the shitty three tier system. There is beauty (dollar beauty) in selling directly, as a boutique, to the consumer.
I know you can do acres to bottles, but can you do acres to dollars in wine sales? Plenty of tourists are coming to the valley already so there is no need to advertise.
"There's a reason Callaway isn't farming those acres anymore...and it's not because they need more wineries to increase the competition..."
Callaway, which makes something like 300,000 cases, gets competition from the big boys, not the other boutique Temecula wineries. Allied Domecq plays against Constellation, Diagio Gallo, etc., not some boutique start-up in Temecula.
This is an ad hominem but I must:
I know your name is Huge Johnson, but you ain't no big swinging dick when it comes to the wine biz.
"As for Viansa, it hasn't been profitable for years"
There's the proof: ignorance plus arrogance = huge j on the wine business
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