Should US winemakers hold back new vintage releases?
Premium wineries in the US are torn between holding back their next release or discounting a current slow-moving vintage, with one industry expert saying “tactical creativity in selling is the mandate”. Sarah Neish finds out more.
One of the big issues that wine producers in the United States are currently facing is whether to release their new vintage now, or keep their current vintages on the shelf but at a lower price to try to clear the stock.
Speaking exclusively to the drinks business, Rob McMillan, head of the Silicon Valley Bank Wine Division (SVB), explained the considerations involved in a declining market.
“If your bottle is on the shelf with a current vintage, and you have an old vintage, particularly a white wine, it can make the trailing vintage difficult to sell,” he said. “If you have only one of the prior vintages left, and everyone has moved on to the next vintage, that’s also hard to sell.”
Regional vintages
According to McMillan, who authors the annual SVB ‘State of the US Wine Industry’ report, it all starts with understanding how regional vintages are created overall.
“If you have a fire year [a year in which wildfires are rife], as the West Coast did in 2020, the vintage itself was generally good for the wine business, but it was discounted to the outside world. If you have that vintage out and are waiting to clear it before the next one, that can cause you a lot of problems.
“You don’t want to double down on your mistakes; you want to take your first loss.”
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Tactical creativity
He stressed that there are other creative ways to market wine. “You can sell two vintages together – a vertical, for example, to spread out the pain. But just holding a vintage back and waiting for the next one to go is a questionable strategy. It may work for a month or two, but not later on.
“Wineries will need to figure out how to right-size that inventory one way or another. Tactical creativity in selling is the mandate.”
McMillan said that the solution is both winery and region specific.
“We are dealing with an industry issue that has to do with headwinds. Not everyone is experiencing the pain from the current environment in the same way. In any region, you will have a spread. However, if you are selling fine wine, there is probably more grace than if you were selling a $12 wine.”
The 2026 SVB wine report will be released later today and db has the top findings from the analysis, which we will be sharing within hours.
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