Depleted Inventory

It's the same story every year.  Spring comes and we complete our bottling.  I look in the production room and think to myself, how are we ever going to sell all of this wine.  In 2009 we started with just 600 gallons or 250 cases.  It seemed like a mountain when you look at is as an investment that only pays off when it's gone!  By Thanksgiving 2009,  the mountain was depleted and we closed before Christmas.  Next year it was 1200 gallons and the mountain filled the back room of our small winery.  I had the same feeling and got the same results.  In 2011 we were up to 1000 cases and our little winery was so full you couldn't get 3 people inside to do a tasting.  It was comical but we never thought anyone would buy that much of our wine.  We ended up closing before Thanksgiving that year!  2012 finds us in our new winery with a new production and storage area.  4000 gallons, 20,000 bottles in 1,600 cases seems like a lot of wine.  Here we are in August and we are on the way down to better than half of our inventory being sold.  We still have plenty of several varieties including our Concord and Vidal Blanc Semi-sweet.  But the usual big sellers are moving out the door at the same, brisk rate,  we are out of Chambourcin, and getting very low on Finish Line White, Strawberry, Peach, Vidal Dry, Cabernet Franc and even our Chocolate Port pile is dwindling.  Thank you to all our customers both loyal and new.  Remember not to put off your Christmas wine gift shopping until December or you may find that you have to give another gift.