Last week, the Australian wine industry got all atwitter. They
announced that the country is now the world’s fourth in terms of
the exportation of its wine production. This puts the Aussies in
line behind Italy, France and Spain.
Last week, the Australian wine industry got all atwitter. They announced that the country is now the world’s fourth in terms of the exportation of its wine production. This puts the Aussies in line behind Italy, France and Spain.
And speaking of France, the government there is coming to the aid of its struggling wine producers to the tune of $91 million. In addition to the cash, they will also allow the destruction – sacré bleu! – of vines in regions that have been over-planted.
The government will also ask the European Union for permission to distill millions of bottles of surplus wine into industrial alcohol. Mon Dieu!
The reason for France’s wine worries? Impossible as it may seem, French domestic consumption has decreased. In addition, competition in export markets has dramatically sharpened, leading to a decline in French exports. And remember, Australia’s exports increased.
Uh-oh. Somebody needs to tell Australia that it’s not a good idea to have France mad at you. Just look at what happened to Germany in 1940 – oops, bad example. Germany invaded and occupied France. Okay, how about England in the early 1800s? Nope, another bad example. Napoleon was routed at Waterloo. Well, then, look what havoc ensued when France chose to side against the United States when we (or more precisely, those of us living in The White House) decided to invade Iraq. Come to think of it, not much happened. Except that they changed the name of “French fries” to “Freedom fries” at the Congressional cafeteria.
So maybe it could be worse if some countries other than France were mad at you.
Anyway, all this made me wonder about how much wine is produced and exported from my little corner of the world.
A call to the friendly and helpful folks at the San Benito County Department of Agriculture quickly resulted in my having a copy of the Annual Crop Report 2003 in my hands (the 2004 report won’t be out until late April or May. Trust me – I’m awaiting it like some readers breathlessly anticipate the next Harry Potter book). Thirsty for knowledge, I quickly devoured it.
Although the report does not contain data on how much wine is actually produced in the county, it provides the total number of acres planted to wine grapes, the yield per acre, total yield, and the value of the crop.
From these numbers I can use the crack math skills I acquired as an English major to conjure up a rough guess. Bear in mind that this does not take into account grapes that are sent out of the county to be processed, nor does it include those that are brought in from other growing areas.
First, if I may, an observation about San Benito agriculture in general: there certainly is a lot of it. And it brings in a serious chunk of change. The 2003 Crop Report’s Commodity Summary, which includes Field Crops, Vegetable and Row Crops, Fruit and Nut Crops, Cattle and Other Livestock and Poultry, reports a total of $238,767,000. It would take a lot of casinos to rake in that kind of green.
Of that almost $239 million, more than nine percent ($21.827 million) was earned by growers of our friend, the wine grape.
Okay. Here comes the math. In 2003, 3,163 acres produced 4.57 tons per acre for a total of 14,455 tons.
Let’s assume that one ton of grapes makes between 120 and 170 gallons of wine (I got these numbers from various sources, and kind of averaged them. They taught me how to do that in my junior year, in a class about the social relevance of Steinbeck’s The Red Pony.) That’s 2,457,350 gallons of wine.
One gallon of wine makes five bottles, and there are 12 bottles in a case. (Is anyone still there?) So that means that – let’s see, 5 times 2,457,350 equals 12,286,750, divided by 12 equals – (still with me?) 1,023,896.8 cases.
Wow – that’s a lot of vino! Enough, in fact, to give a bottle of San Benito County wine to every living human in New York City and Los Angeles, based on the 2000 census. After that, there’d be enough left over for everyone in Hollister and almost everyone in Morgan Hill.
The Crop Report’s stated revenue of $21,827,000, I assume, is based on the wholesale price of raw grapes. In 2003, growers saw $1,510 per ton. But what would that 14,455 tons of grapes be worth after they are converted to wine?
One grocery store in Hollister stocks several wines produced by San Benito County wineries. At that retail outlet, they range in price from $12.95 to $26.95, so using a very unscientific method, for argument’s sake, let’s assume a price point in the middle, $19.95. So, 12,286,750 bottles of wine at $19.95 equals $245,120,662. And fifty cents.
To put that number in perspective, the entire 2003/2004 budget for the County of San Benito was $72,483,609.
Mind you, I’m just having fun here; I don’t seriously think anyone around here is turning that kind of coin. For one thing, a producer can’t sell wine at retail prices.
But if those wine production numbers keep growing, we San Benitoites had better keep our eyes peeled for angry Frenchmen. A fleet of Renault and Citroen tanks and a battalion of cigarette smoking, wildly complaining soldiers wearing striped shirts and berets may be just over the hills to the east.
