CALIFORNIA: BUILDING BACK

Certified sommelier Matthew Luczy is Decanter’s California correspondent. He writes a column on Decanter Premium every other Friday

Across multiple industries, the last year was the most financially, logistically and emotionally trying year in recent history. No one made it through unscathed, but few sectors were as dramatically affected as wine and hospitality. Constraints from the Covid-19 pandemic and the resultant economic collapse preceded the worst wildfire season in California’s history, with more than 1.7m hectares burned.

There were already existing problems for California’s residents; escalating tax rates, widespread homelessness and climate change have been causing residents and businesses to leave in record numbers.

The middle class is shrinking and wealth inequality widening. Tourism boards, restaurants and wineries won’t need to just attract visitors to the Golden State; even residents will soon need incentives to stay. And a lack of consistent and reliable leadership during the pandemic has made matters worse; mixed messages, back-and-forth policies and a yo-yo effect of closing and reopening businesses have sent many into a downward spiral.

Ehren Jordan of Failla Wines in Sonoma Coast has strong words for the government’s inconsistencies throughout the pandemic. ‘You can get on an airplane with 250 other