1.2

Expected yearly sales (in billions of US$) of all oak wine barrels by 2026. According to the annual Global Wine Barrel Market Report, the industry is likely to experience 5.2% growth between 2020 and 2026. The top three-barrel makers Francois Freres, Oeneo, and Nadalie, have a 33% market share.

Grapes are the #1 agricultural crop in California.

Answer: False.

That would be almonds. There are 1.3 million acres of almonds in the state. Grapes come in second with 844,000 acres. In 2021, California’s grape acreage declined slightly, while nut crops—almonds, walnuts, and pistachios—all saw acreage increases. For as delicious and nutritious as nuts are, there’s a big downside here. Unlike grapes, nut crops require copious amounts of water. It’s nuts that the state now in a mega drought (defined as a drought that lasts for decades) continues to promote water-guzzling crops.

“The great is the enemy of the good,’ the saying goes, and this is also true of wine. When we urgently chase the ‘stellar,’ we actually do collateral damage. Running after exalted wine experiences can numb us to the sensational pleasures that a thoroughly good wine can deliver.”

—Terry Theise, wine writer

1.2

Get WineSpeed