Winery thoughts during Covid-19

Turiya is small, like so small it barely makes business sense to operate on this level. I have no employees and I don’t get a paycheck. I pay myself when times are great and otherwise the money goes right back into the business. I have other ‘side-hustles’, meaning I normally work other jobs as well to live a simple life here on the Central Coast but even those part time gigs have been eliminated. I’ve had a LOT of free time to strategize and try to see this as an opportunity. It feels a bit sad though as we stretch into the 4th month of closure.

In June, I was allowed to re-open with social distancing measures in place. Since I am a one woman show, I had no problem keeping social distancing protocols in place. I held tastings by reservation and had no more than 10 people in the building at once at any point. Two weeks later, wineries were ordered to shut back down.

When will this end?

The rules keep changing, the requirements to serve food or not, to create outdoor seating and expanding our permitted pouring space, etc. Many wineries have presently re-opened with outdoor tastings. Yesterday I took a drive to see which ones were open and how busy they were. Mind you we are normally our busiest this time of year with tastings and events. Things looked pretty dismal for mid-July. How will we recover and sustain our businesses even when this is over? I thank God that I have a small winery with awesome customers and dedicated members. I am glad that I have very little overhead and a production style that is dedicated to personal/direct sales. I also thank God that I make wine in a style that can age for a long time and there is not real rush to drink it. I am curious about wineries that have ‘drink now’ styles - will those wines all sell before this pandemic is over or will they simply go bad on the shelves? And what of those who sell to restaurants; the word on the streets is that restaurants aren’t buying much wine at all.

I haven’t hit the panic button yet but wanted to share these thoughts with you. I ask if you are still available to support small businesses (and not just wineries), please do. There are so many that are not going to make it through. Many are already hanging by a thread.

I do plan to join the other wineries in re-opening for private tastings; there won’t be any winery tours and outdoor seating will be a nice change. I will let you know as soon as that is in place and look forward to seeing those who are ready to brave the world outside your home. Thank you always for your continued support and understanding.

Stay safe and God bless!

Ang