Re-release of Ep 230: The Biz of Small Wineries with Jim Morris and Oded Shakked of Longboard

Wine for Normal People

Alcohol, Lifestyle, Arts, Education, Food, Wine, Dining, Grapes

4.6 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 23 April 2025

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On the heels of the tariff show last week, and news that wine consumption is at its lowest point in 60 years, I thought it may be interesting to revisit the US industry structure in more depth.

As I say in the freshly recorded intro (the show is edited for relevancy too, so it's not a straight re-release) I wanted to carve out the issues for small wineries that are every bit as relevant today as they were when I launched this show in 2018 with Oded Shakked of Longboard and Jim Morris, the Sonoma Wine Guy and frequent pod guest.

Oded Shakked (left) and Jim Morris (right)

As I point out in the intro, the biggest change since 2018? The environment around wine has gotten gloomier: Wineries are closing and being bought up, and small family wineries that aren’t financially viable are done – there are tons of wineries for sale or that are just going out of business. It’s hard to compete in this environment.

After the tariff show, this show offers another perspective on the wine business – fake brands, ego brands, how the three tier system and score system fails the small producers, and how big wine is trying to take wine to the lowest common denominator – take wine to the lowest level they can get away with to save money. Ultimately, consolidation in American wine is squeezing the producers who built it and who are the backbone of it. Not everyone will make it, and not everyone should make it, but hopefully this show will remind you why we need small producers who are financially viable, and who make unique, great wine.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Wine for Normal People, the podcast for people who like wine, but not the snobbery that goes with it.
0:15.9	I'm your host, Elizabeth Schneider, author of the Wine for Normal People book, and Certified Wine Dork.
0:21.8	Join me as I hit record on this conversation with a friend in the wine industry.
0:26.2	This and all shows with guests are informal that educational discussions between passionate
0:30.9	wine friends. All guests are personal friends or friends of friends in wine, not strangers.
0:36.2	And like any conversation between
0:37.9	friends, we're going to talk back and forth, interrupt each other, laugh, have fun, debate,
0:43.1	tough questions, voice opinions. Most of all, enjoy sharing our time together and with you. If you're
0:48.5	in, pour yourself a glass, pull up a chair, and join us for this great chat.
0:58.1	This podcast is sponsored by my exclusive sponsor, Wine Access.
1:02.7	If you don't know about them, they're a premium online wine retailer that specializes in offering high-quality wines from around the world.
1:06.1	They want to simplify wine buying by providing access to rare and exceptional wines, often not found in
1:12.2	retail stores.
1:13.1	They give us wines that have been chosen for quality and value, including those in my wine
1:17.8	club.
1:18.4	Six wines, four times a year for 150 bucks.
1:21.1	Go to wineaccess.com slash normal and listen in the middle of the show for more details.
1:26.9	Last week, the show was on the tariffs, and that was a very timely subject, and hopefully it is not a subject that will last very long.
1:38.4	But we never know, and it's very important for us to describe this, because it has been an issue ongoing.
1:43.7	We also got news that wine consumption
1:45.9	is at its lowest point in 60 years worldwide and that it is declining. I have a lot of
1:52.7	thoughts on this, mostly having to do with some of the challenges with disconnectedness in our
	...

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