Prices Pressing Down

Next year promises to be a very good one for the American wine drinker, whether he selects carefully by vintage or simply enjoys a good jug now and then. French wine prices have started to drop lately from their ridiculous highs as a result of buyer resistance and an oversupply after several bountiful harvests in a row. In Manhattan, for example, Chateau Lafite '59 is retailing for about $810 a case, down from a peak of $1,600 last year. But the best news for oenophiles is that the California wine industry has also become the victim of overexpansion--and recession--and consumers can look forward to lower prices for better than average wines.

Consumption of table wines has risen 7% this year, but production of California wine grapes jumped 19%. Many growers are caught holding the grapes because a surplus inventory of nearly 60 million gallons--the highest ever--is stacked up in California wineries. Says California Vintner Ernest Wente: "There aren't enough wineries in California to hold all the premium grapes coming in."

Grape prices have dropped by 25% this year, and even more for finer-quality grapes. Vintners who paid the growers $862 per ton for high-quality Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and White Riesling grapes last year are now paying only about $500. Retail price reductions for wine will be less dramatic than that because of swelling production costs. But there should be modest price cuts in the best California wines by next summer, when 1974 whites will begin to hit those overcrowded retail shelves. The reds, aged longer, should drop somewhat by the 1975 holiday season. A 15% price cut in Windsor wines has already increased sales.

Meanwhile, buyers are getting better quality for their money. Cabernet Sauvignon grapes go almost exclusively into wines selling at $3 or more per bottle, but some vintners have begun to offer wine made from a hybrid grape combining Cabernet Sauvignon and Carignane that sells for about $2 per fifth. Among the wines are Gallo's Ruby Cabernet and Inglenook's Navalle Ruby Cabernet. Says Inglenook Winemaster Thomas Ferrell: "We're trying to put some style into the jug wines."

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