Why I stopped importing California.

I began importing from California in 2019 with two producers: Sloan and The Wonderland Project. Both make exceptional wine. I am stopping because the economics no longer work for a portfolio of my size.

The freight problem

A case of Barolo ships from Genoa to Miami for roughly $18. A case of Napa Cabernet ships from Napa to Miami for $35. The domestic freight advantage that California should enjoy does not exist once you account for the temperature-controlled trucking required to cross the desert in summer.

The alcohol problem

California reds consistently come in at 14.5 to 15.5 percent alcohol. This matters for two reasons. First, higher alcohol means higher excise tax per case. Second, restaurants in Florida increasingly prefer wines under 14 percent for their glass programs. The margin on a 15-percent Cabernet by the glass is thinner than on a 13-percent Barolo.

The mathematics

I import eighty-one producers. Two of them are in California. Those two producers require the same paperwork, the same insurance, the same compliance as eighty-one. When I look at the revenue per hour of administrative work, California is last.

I will honor existing orders through the 2023 vintage. After that, I will not replenish.

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This is not a judgment on California wine. It is a judgment on my time.