Inflation looms for CA wine

In last month’s column, I covered the rise in California’s grape prices in the wake of disastrous fires and two light vintages, but that was only half of the story. Now it’s time to examine inflation’s effects on the American wine industry.

Somewhat strangely, while most Americans see clear evidence of inflationary effects everywhere in daily life, the one place that prices haven’t (yet) gone up is the local wine store.

‘Wine prices have not moved anywhere near the percentage of change of other food products’, says Jon Moramarco, a partner at...