California Wine Industry Excited Storms Are Putting Dent In Drought
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — California vintners are still feeling the effects of California's drought as thousands of vendors met at the Sacramento Convention Center.
Ken Freeze of the Unified Wine and Grape Symposium says about 14,000 of the top wine and grape industry professionals are at the center, selling and checking out the latest and greatest technologies and equipment in the industry.
"The exhibitors are trying to sell to the winemakers, the grape growers, everybody that's in that chain," he said.
David Criveller's company sells large wine processing tanks to vintners. Business is good, but he says sales have dropped off somewhat in the Central Valley in four years of drought, especially in Lodi.
"Lodi is a little slower I would say. Napa, Sonoma I would say pretty good," he said.
Freeze says the drought has reduced the amount of grapes harvested in California over the past four years, but it has yet to make a major dent in the $63 billion wine industry. They're still optimistic about the future.
"Fortunately it looks like we're going to have a good wet winter," he said.
Recent storms are bringing optimism to growers and sellers.
"Everybody is optimistic now with this rain and we're hoping that brings in more tank sales so that we can build more," Criveller said.