In case you haven’t heard, there’s a glut of wine on the market.  Vintners are struggling, and consumers are enjoying record low prices on some very good wines.  California growers enjoyed an excellent grape harvest this year, and now there’s way too much wine on the market.  Wine producers are victims of their own success.  California wine makers spent huge amounts of money marketing their products in the 80’s and 90’s, and successfully increased demand for their product.  Their increased market combined with the boom years of the 90’s led to many newcomers entering the market and established companies planting new orchards.  At some point along the way they crossed the line that separates meeting demand and overproduction.  Even without the current economic downturn, they’d have too much wine on their hands.  I don’t know if vintners are screaming for federal price supports or other types of relief yet, although that won’t surprise me.

I’m keeping the ranting to a minimum lately, so I’ll just mention that it’s usually a good idea to see which way the wagon’s headed before you hop on it.  But if you like wine, now would be a great time to head down to your favorite retailer and get some.