Mondavi wine company lays off 360 employees

[UpInArms]

http://sacramento.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2004/10/04/daily8.html

Robert Mondavi Corp. has laid off 360 employees, or about a third of its work force, reports the Napa Valley Register.

The layoffs, most of which came at Mondavi's Oakville headquarters, follow the company's recent decision to sell its Napa vineyards, its premium brands and interests in overseas wineries to allow it to focus on its lower-priced "lifestyle" wines.

Some employees were given two weeks' notice, while others will stay until early next year, the newspaper said. On Friday the Wine Spectator reported that about half of the laid-off employees worked there full time and the rest were part-time or seasonal.

...more...

[FlemingsGhost]

1. "Crushed in California."

The Bush economic "recovery" train picks up momentum ...

"Alllllll-board!"

(on edit: typo)

[ncbiker]

2. No

offense, but why burn your money on American wine when you could purchase premium French or Italian wine?

[FlemingsGhost]

7. I can think of 360 reasons ...

Seriously, no offense taken. I don't know enough regarding wine, or the industry to confidently comment.

Welcome to DU, btw.

[JoFerret]

3. It's all the French wine now being drunk

by those who despise Bush's zenophobic idiocy.

[da_chimperor]

5. Well, not exactly

the market's been tough since the economic bubble burst. Wine isn't an essential good, so it's often one of the first to go on the average Joe's shopping list. Competition is definitely a factor though, but more so from new Zealand, Australia, Chile, etc. I think it's more of redefining their strategy. If you're interested, check this article out.

http://www.napanews.com/templates/index.cfm?template=story_full&id=07029FB7-B898-44CD-A914-53E9132C941E

[Iceburg]

15. true ... and soon there will be a boycott on american vehicles

[da_chimperor]

4. Wow, this is big news in the wine industry

Mondavi makes really good wine, but it seems that they're going out of the high-end market entirely which I find really surprising given their history. That's a shame, but oh well, I guess they don't mind some brand devaluation. Someone else will buy up the assets and try to make it work.

[sweetheart]

8. competition from south africa, bulgaria, chile and others

The days of undisputed wine-industry rulership are over. The
secret's out, and many nations are getting in to this relatively
low-tech industry with reasonable returns.

I seldom buy american wines anymore. South African i find are the
best value for money (with a palette partial to full bodied reds,
zinfandels, mixes of cabernets and merlots, amerone, and such... and
i've myself seen increasingly the value-wines shift from being once
american dominated to being "other" world wine makers.

If the dollar was allowed to drop to its natural level, given current
deficits, perhaps the wine market would be doing better... but given
a bulgarian cost base, its a miracle that california wine makers
are still in business.... the cost of labour and agriculture is
cheaper overseas... and just like other outsourcing, the market
goes to the cheapest market with the least labour protections.

[da_chimperor]

11. A lot depends on the market the wine is meant for

It's a lot easier to sell American wine in America than it is overseas. Not because of quality, but because of profits. You just can't expect to charge more than around 5 euros per bottle in Europe and expect high sales. Most of the US wine sold in Europe, that I've seen at least, is at the top end of the supermarket price scale for wines. They're usually at or just below 5 euros, while offerings from a number of other countries are usually 2 - 4 euros. The US market is completely different, as it's much more of a luxury item than in Europe. You can see this from the low per capita wine consumption in the US, especially compared to a number of other markets particularly in Europe. Because of this, a lot of wineries are completely dependent on domestic consumption. You're certainly right on about imported wine being a better value. I still buy US wines though, but I'm biased. My mom's in the industry :D I personally prefer California reds, and whites from New Zealand.

[UpInArms]

12. the only caveat that I would make

is to make certain that the grapes are not treated with alar or ddt.

[sweetheart]

16. Its unfortunate wine labelling for chemical additives

I usually do a test bottle of a new vintner (new for moi)... and see
if it makes me sick, as i'm rather sensitive to chemicals.. and
frankly, i don't touch ANY french wines... i get sick too much and
am distrustful... same with australia... for some reason south
africa seems charming, and of course california.

THere is no requirement to list the additives on the label, and
as this is a market secret, it is up to the taster to reverse
engineer if they put crap in it... also, i just finished a bottle
of "isla negra" from chile that was excellent.

I've grown used to self-testing from cannabis smoking and drugs taking, as only by self-testing can you know if it is any good, or if
the grower screwed it up... and a headache is a sign something's
amiss. If i drink a wine that gives me a headache on 2 glasses, i
never drink that brand ever again. I wonder if the marketing people
for such wineries have figured out the foolishness of putting in
chemicals, and pestacides without proper labelling.

[realcountrymusic]

23. Not likely the chemical additives

there are more intentional additives in American wine than in most decent European wines. What makes people sick is usually the histamine content, directly related to tannins and maceration times, and sometimes a response to specific yeasts. (Actually, it's usually just the alcohol that makes people sick). Sulfites are *way* exaggerated -- the number of people allergic to the low levels of naturally occurring sulfites in wine is very small. Where sulfites are added in the agricultural chain, the amount in most wine is still pretty small.

Your experience is your experience. In agricultural reality, French wines of any decent quality (certainly almost any A.C. wine) are "cleaner" chemical-wise than most American wines. The number of French growers and vintners using organic or near-organic techniques is really impressive compared to California. (I know, shocking ain't it? Californians think they have the corner on the organic side.)

But then, most American wine -- even a lot of top brand stuff -- is made the same way Coca Cola and Budweiser are made, with no effort spared to provide a consistent, mass-appeal product that varies little by vintage, or even grape origin. You do that largely with chemicals. Sorry to break the bad news.


RCM

[sweetheart]

24. Interesting

You are obviously familiar to the process, and i'm ignorant, just
a consumer who does not like headaches or acid tasting wine.

French wines i've tried, and its been many, are less value for
money as the grape varieties are unknown on the labelling, and i
prefer certain grapes... so its my fault for not being enough
of a somallier to know which french vintners use which grapes that
i most prefer (shiraz, cabernet).

I seldom drink american wine, so if that is "bad news", perhaps for
most who drink it.

What chemicals are in there then, as certainly there are some, and
perhaps pesticides as well. Sadly, big supermarkets, have such
buying power, that they crush specialty vintners who can't deliver
the massive volumes they require... so without being a member of a
wine club that buys up the small reserves, i end up knowing mostly
the mass-market brands from emerging economies that are better value
for ££££.

A headached on 2 glasses is not alcohol, hell i can drink 10 shots
of whiskey and not get a headache... its the non-alcohol part that
is doing something.. as anyone whos ever had a "port" headache can
attest. ;-)

[realcountrymusic]

10. "Really good" = de gustibus non disputandam est

I worked in the grape trade for 5 years. Yeah. the Mondavi varietals and reserves are good wines, though overpriced for the quality, and almost always over-oaked and over-extracted for me. Opus One was a silly idea. Never got why that was $100 a bottle, except that it was for rich folks who buy by price.

Mondavi, like many California wineries marketing to the premium sector, sat on its ass in the 90s as American taste got more sophisticated and global competitors kept pace with better and better products at lower prices. The very transformation of the American wine market Mondavi started in the 60s and 70s caught up with him, as did the extraordinary quality of wines from Chile, Australia, and even South Africa. And while Americans began to get more adventurous about varietals and wine-making styles, Mondavi kept cranking out blowsy, over-oaked chards and cabs (the Fume was always pretty good, however), especially at the "reserve" level. In any decent wine shop in any major city, the selection of superbly crafted wines with more diverse varietal characters and a wider range of possible food pairings is extraordinary, and the best of them come from (gasp) France, Spain, and Italy. Mondavi was competing with Bourdeux and Burgundy while the action moved South to the Rhone, Cahors, Languedoc-Roussilon, Provencal, etc. and as the Spanish (and Italian and Portuguese) industries came roaring into the late 20th century with new technologies and the same UC Davis-trained winemaking science that California had used to rise so rapidly in the 1980s. I drink mostly $10-15 southern French wines these days, and not only to piss on Freeper France-haters. The wines are cleaner, better, and more diversely characterful than all the cookie-cutter $20-25 varietals from Napa and Sonoma. I honestly don't remember the last high-end American wine I bought (I do have a soft spot for Zinfandels which are American-only, with some kinds of meat dishes, and the $12 Ravenswood vintner's blend is a damn good buy).

California wine: a victim of its own success, and the pretentiousness that accompanied it, as if the Europeans were never going to catch up. The WIne Spectator, which reports the demise of Mondavi premium above, was a huge part of the problem.

On the other side of the coin, the Mondavi "lifestyle" wines -- the under $10 lines -- taste like they were made in factories and have zero character. They're clean, and in a lousy store in a podhunk town they are sometimes your best choice. But even smallish cities now have good wine stores in most states where you can score a tasty $10 mourvedre-based or syrah-based French vin de pays that kicks ass. California wine for me now consists of two options: "Two-Buck Chuck" (yuck) and top-of-the-line serious stuff from Ridge and Ravenswood etc. And even then, you do better spending the same $50-75 a bottle on European wine if you seriously want the best. (You can spend more, but with rare exceptions you are throwing money away when you do unless you are a serious collector with adequate storage to hold the stuff for a decade -- industry insider tip.)

My two cents. American business dies when it thinks it doesn't have to innovate, as with the auto industry in the 70s and 80s. And I don't mean innovate only in marketing. I'm glad I got out of the trade in the early 90s.

RCM

[UpInArms]

13. good wine?

four words:

Valley of the Moon

:D

(edit: I can't count)

[da_chimperor]

14. I certainly see your point

about the cookie cutter varietals. My palette isn't advanced enough to recognize any subtle differences between some of the more established wine brands. I always preferred the less common varietals myself, and wines from the small wineries.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

17. Your last point was excellent!

Once American companies corner a market, they kill innovation...

[Don Claybrook]

21. Didn't want to hijack this thread...

If you (or anyone else reading this) gets a chance, would you take a look at a Lounge thread titled "What are your favorite online wine resources?".

I have wine questions, and LBN didn't seem the appropriate forum to post them.

Thanks.

[realcountrymusic]

22. Just getting back on this, probably too late

Wine online is a bad idea, even wine advice online. Wine is one of those businesses where your local retailer -- if she is good -- needs your support. Rely on her advice, develop rapoort and trust. No one can know your personal taste as well as someone who serves it year in and year out.

And to the person who said "smaller wineries, more obscure varietals" -- YES! There was a moment in the early 90s when I though if I tasted another blowsy chardonnay or manly cab I was going to puke. I rarely drink either varietal these days, with the exception of an occasional good Bordeaux (still a soft spot for Leoville Las Cases and Cos d'Estournel, but I can't afford either now that I'm not in the trade!). But the number of great tempranillo, grenache, mourvedre, sangiovese, aglianico, etc. -based wines out there is astounding.

RCM

[maxsolomon]

6. i took their tour a month ago

they sure put a lot of money into their premium line to ditch it just like that.

and giving up their chilean wineries? someone is hurting.

[da_chimperor]

9. I think it's more related to shareholder pressure

Whatever the reasons, it's a damn shame. Mondavi put the Napa valley on the map, and a lot of people will be sad to see them go, myself included.

[Maine-ah]

18. California wine industry problems

I think that part of the problem rests with the types of wine like Two Buck Chuck wines (which suck) from Charles Shaw and some other California wine industry problems such as the current wine glut. I think quite a bit could be blamed on Mondavi themselves, where as the quality of wines in which they are producing, for the price that they are selling at, is just not up to par. I can find many other wines in the same price range (and less) that are definitely better. I will have to agree with another poster about Zin's. I love those big fat fruit forward type wines. You should try some Italian primitivo, which are the California zin's origins.
One more note, is wine consumption in the U.S. is up. It's just we are finding great quality in less expensive wines, I would have to say mostly from Australia, and probably Spain and Argentina. Oh, and I'm sure the fact that this economy just sucks, isn't helping much on top of everything else.

[pelagius]

19. Another Zin Kick!

Ridge and Ravenswood are getting the bulk of my CA wine dollar these days.

[Maine-ah]

20. favorite Ravenswood

not a zin, but my favorite Ravenswood is the GSM blend called Icon.