The Amazing Impact of Only 9% Vines
I’ve been spending a lot of time in Napa Valley and thinking about Napa Valley these days due to a collection of clients we are working with at Wark Communications who reside in that Valley over the hill.
In focusing on Napa Valley of late I’ve bumped up against one of those issues of "perception vs. reality." As you drive through Napa it’s easy to get the impression that vineyards are planted everywhere and that the region is simply a collection of vines, broken up on occassion by a home or small town.
In reality only 9% of Napa County is planted to vines. A mere NINE PERCENT. That’s a lot less than most people familiar with America’s most famous wine region would think. But of late, we’ve learned a lot more about the impact of Napa Valley winemaking.
According to a study completed concerning the impact of Napa Valley’s wine industry on the economy we find out that:
-Napa Valley only produces 4% of the State’s wine by volume
-At $2.3 Billion, revenue from the sales of Napa Valley wines represents 27% of the State’s revenue from wine sales.
-Wine Industry Jobs account for half of all Napa County employment
-$1.4 Billion in wages are generated by the Napa wine industry
-$800 Million in State taxes are generated from Napa wines.
Clearly the premium wine drinkers are willing to pay for Napa Valley wines are refleted in these numbers. But it’s still the mere NINE PERCENT of Napa County land being taken up by vines that stands out to me. It would be fascinating to compare this with other CA wine regions as well as prominent wine regions in other parts of the world.
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