Supply chain issues have led to shortages of two important staples for North Bay winemakers — oak barrels and bottles.
"For us, our business, it’s critical to get our barrels here in time for our clients because harvest starts and Mother Nature doesn’t wait for anybody," said Ron Angold with Barrel Associates International.
Angold said a bottleneck at the Port of Oakland is preventing vendors from delivering oak barrels to winemakers. He estimates 30,000 barrels are sitting on ships.
"The ships that these containers are on are coming through Long Beach," Angold said. "They're getting through Long Beach and LA pretty quickly, but then there’s no room at the port, so they're drifting out in the Pacific, waiting sometimes three to four weeks before they can get an appointment into the port."
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Angold said pandemic-related material and labor shortages, along with a port protest that shut down operations in July, are all adding up to huge delays. He also said the cost of shipping the barrels from France has increased 300%.
At V. Sattui Winery in St. Helena, the bottling machines are running full speed as the winery bottles its special 2020 red blend called La Merica. It’s a process that should have already taken place, but bottles have been arriving months late.
"Our bottling is late because a lot of our glass has been late," V. Sattui Director of Winemaking Brooks Painter said.
As the region’s grapes ripen, the clock is ticking.
"Almost all of our dry white wines, all of our red white wines go into barrels for up to 22 months," Painter said. "Right now, the urgent need is for chardonnay. Chardonnay is one of the earlier grapes to be harvested."
V. Sattui said it has only received one-third of the barrels it needs so far — enough for its chardonnay. The winery is hoping the rest arrive soon.
