Area wine sales holding steady despite economic woe

Budgets wines- All $20 and under
During this trying economical period it's easy to miss the bright spots. Traditionally, when the rest of the economy heads down, sales on vices stay constant or go up.

However, is the same true of wine?

Representatives of three well-established Oregon wineries said sales were steady, but other trends are starting to emerge.

”Despite restaurants closing across the state due to the economy, overall [wine] sales are remaining strong,” Eric Rogers, Eola Hills Winery business manager, said.

Most restaurants make a significant portion of their profit from side sales of appetizers and desserts, as well as bar sales. With the economy heading south, people are still going out to eat, but many have cut back on the extras, and the result is restaurant closure. For the wine industry, this means a potentially large part of their sales base is gone.

Earl Jones, president of Abacela, said restaurant sales are dipping. Marie Olson, owner of Airlie Winery, said business there is bucking the trend with an increase in restaurant sales.

"It's probably due to diners lowering the price point of the wines they are buying with meals," she said.

Distribution of wines is strong at all three wineries. Olson said her distributors are now ordering half pallets instead of full pallets, but that orders are coming in twice as often so it evens out. She is keeping a closer eye on her billing to make sure that payments are coming in, but so far, so good.

Rogers and Jones both said sales are down slightly (about 2 percent), but are within normal parameters. Earl mentioned that bottle shop sales were steady.

Tasting room sales have been favorable at all three wineries. Airlie's tasting room is closed in January and February, but prior to that time sales were up. The other two wineries are open all year and reported upticks in sales. However, customers who once bought cases are purchasing in bottle amounts.

One side effect of the economy is the needed increase in donations to charities. Wineries are often asked to donate for fundraisers of all kinds and donation requests are up at both Eola and Airlie. Donation requests are becoming more frequent and the distance from which the requests are coming is increasing.

"We've had at least one from every state," Olson said.

Part of the trouble in trying to attain a clear vision of where the market is headed is simply the uncertainty of the current economic times.

"We really won't know how things are going until we can look at the current time in retrospect," Jones said.

Brett Matti is a wine writer who works part-time at Eola Hills Winery.