Hard times for wine producers in Napa Valley

Even in Napa Valley there can be hard times. Some 10 wineries are about to change hands this year and next in order to avoid bankruptcy or closing. Two years ago there was none in a similar situation. This is the worst down-turn in 20 years, it is said. Ten producers is perhaps not a lot if you compare with e.g. Bordeaux where there is more likely several hundreds in similar situation. On the other hand, there are only 400 producers in Napa and around 10,000 in Bordeaux. Falling sales in the US is one reason: sales were down 3.3% in 2009 to $29 billion. Another problem is that consumers are trading down in price and rather buying moderately priced wines, and Napa are up there among the most expensive ones. Read more www.bloomberg.com