Wine News & Articles

I apologize for my recent silence, but this week was crazy.  Crowd estimators couldn’t agree, pegging the assembled sports fans at either 20,000 or 35,000.  But one way or the other, Amgen’s Tour of California bike race brought a sea of new faces to Solvang.  Some even stopped in to taste wine at our first affiliated wine bar - Tastes of the Valleys (a Sideways wine bar), positioned right next to the finish line (see patrons’ photos here).

The cycling fans descended shortly after Levi crossed the finish line (click photo to see larger image), a few steps from our front door.  All in all, we found cycling fans to be a great crowd, and some were pleased to discover a few great new wines with us.  In general, we were surprised by how few stopped in, recalling a recent news item from S.F. Chronicle’s W. Blake Gray, in which he outlined the wine expenditures of major sports fans.  Cycling fans were noticeably absent.

In his brief article, Gray reports the annual wine expenditures for the average U.S. household to be $95.10, while fans of women’s golf beat that handily with wine expenditures of $124.90/year, followed by a peloton of fans from other sports - tennis, men’s golf, soccer, college football, women’s pro basketball and men’s college basketball - all of which topped the U.S. average. 

Fans spending less than the average U.S. household include those of pro football, hockey, baseball, men’s professional basketball and NASCAR.  Though NASCAR fans spend the least on wine (a sobering $81.40/yr), they’re catching up fast, increasing their annual wine expenditures by 22% last year. At that rate, NASCAR fans would draft into an above-average slot next year. And when they do, we’ll be ready to greet them in our online store or in front of the fireplace at Tastes of the Valleys.

Cheers,
Dave Chambers, Wine Merchant
[email protected]
Toll Free, 866-746-7293

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