SONOMA, Calif.—The wineries that dot the hills of California Wine Country were built for visitors to stroll through a vineyard and then linger in a tasting room, where they can swirl a Cabernet and discuss its taste and aroma with the winemaker.
Now, due to the coronavirus, that same experience has been forced online.
“You have to do whatever you have to do to survive,” said Steve Ledson, owner of Ledson Winery & Vineyards, which is hosting virtual tastings from its castle in the Sonoma Valley about 60 miles north of San Francisco.
This area has survived disruption before. First came the 6.0 earthquake in 2014. Then a devastating wildfire in 2017. Then 2019 brought a triple whammy: flood, blackouts and another giant fire. But nothing has put the California wine country on its back like the coronavirus pandemic.
A Healdsburg, Calif., winery, which burned in the 2019 Kincade Fire, remained leveled in April.
Photo: Max Whittaker for The Wall Street Journal“This thing doesn’t have an end in sight,” said Sam Sebastiani, the 79-year-old patriarch of one of the dynasty wine families in Sonoma and Napa counties. “As soon as we can open up, there will be people wanting to come back. The question is how many businesses will survive.”
Americans are drinking at least as much as ever, which has been good news for the large alcohol companies with space on supermarket shelves. But small wineries that rely on tourists stopping by tasting rooms have seen revenue dry up.
The nation’s $30 billion wine industry stands to lose nearly $6 billion this year due to the coronavirus disruptions, according to wine consultant Jon Moramarco. Top producers with grocery shelf space will benefit from a projected $1.3 billion jump in non-winery retail sales, he estimated.
But he said the majority of the nation’s 10,000 wineries and grape growers are likely to see losses this year because so many are dependent on sales in tasting rooms and restaurants.
Dean Biersch’s HopMonk Tavern in Sonoma, Calif., was only doing takeout meals in April as part of California's shelter-in-place order.
Photo: Max Whittaker for The Wall Street Journal“I think some wineries, but a relatively small number, may throw in the towel because of the coronavirus—particularly smaller wineries that depend on tasting room sales for their livelihoods,” said Cyril Penn, editor of Wine Business Monthly.
The effects have been particularly painful for Sonoma and Napa counties, where wine-related business including tourism contributes more than $20 billion to the economies, according to local vintner groups.
The Wing & Barrel Ranch, which features hunting and wine tasting for its members, in mid-March had to close amid the start of waterfowl hunting season and furlough 15 of its 20 employees, said Chief Executive Darius Anderson. In the first five weeks of the closure, he said the ranch’s annual revenues fell about 30%.
He likened the string of disasters that the eight-year-old ranch has gone through, including the earthquake, fires and blackouts, to a championship fight. “After 10 rounds, you’re wondering, what is going on?” said Mr. Anderson.
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Many vintners are going digital to try to make up for at least some of the shortfall. In the Napa Valley, Vincent Arroyo Family Winery moved its May 2 Winemaker’s Dinner, which was supposed to feature tastings and paella for 200 guests, onto Facebook and YouTube. Owner Matthew Moye said 150 households participated across the U.S., with four wines and recipes for the dinner that everyone made themselves.
Napa’s Honig Vineyard & Winery held an online wine class for 130 Google employees who were sent bottles to sample, said Stephanie Honig, director of sales and communications. In recent weeks, Honig has also held virtual tastings for an anniversary party in New York, the 30-year reunion of a California high-school class and a group of friends in Florida.
Stephanie Honig (far left, third from top) of Honig Vineyard & Winery hosts a virtual tasting with large group of customers.
Photo: Honig Vineyard & WineryMs. Honig said the virtual tastings don’t replace a trip to the Napa Valley, and can be tricky. “For example, people have had their cameras turned around, walked away from a strong Wi-Fi signal and a couple of times I went over an hour on Instagram Live and got cut off,” she said.
Ms. Honig often hosts the events via Zoom or other social media, standing in a tasting room with bottles behind her as she leads a group analysis of her family’s reds and whites. Sometimes she walks outside into the vineyard, using her camera to show participants around. Recently, she led the sampling of three wines by 20 members of a fantasy football league in 14 states.
It was “a fantastic opportunity we never would have had to be together as friends and experience terrific wine even from the comfort of our own homes,” said one of the tasters, Chad Richards, a 44-year-old business owner from Raleigh, N.C.
Wing & Barrel Ranch operations manager Mike Sutsos prepared shotguns for new owners in the empty clubhouse in Sonoma in late April. The sporting club was closed as part of California's shelter-in-place order.
Photo: Max Whittaker for The Wall Street JournalEven with virtual tastings, sales at Honig and Vincent Arroyo are off about 50% and 40%, respectively, they said.
It is hard to recruit new customers online, said Mr. Ledson, who estimates his winery lost about a quarter of its $2 million in monthly sales in April compared with the same month a year ago. Mr. Ledson said his winery recently has been able to sign up only about one new customer to its membership club for every three who cancel.
“There is nothing that replaces personal contact,” Mr. Ledson said.
Vineyards in Healdsburg, Calif., on April 25.
Photo: Max Whittaker for The Wall Street JournalWrite to Jim Carlton at jim.carlton@wsj.com
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