Oregon’s wine industry chases safety and sales in the coronavirus era
By Michael Alberty | For The Oregonian/OregonLive
APRIL 01,2020
Selling wine in the best of times is hard work. In a global pandemic it means closing your doors to the public and grinding it out with curbside pickups and home deliveries.
This is a single snapshot of Oregon’s wine stores and wineries as they struggle to balance public safety with economic survival.
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THE WINERIES
Matt Berson of Love & Squalor Wine reports wine sales plummeted 70-75% after closing the doors of his urban winery. Now he offers curbside pickup service at his Portland Wine Co. building. Berson also started making free home deliveries within a 20-mile radius of his winery for a six-bottle minimum purchase.
Berson also extends a 20% discount to all food service workers. “Small, family-run restaurants are a key part of our wine ecosystem and I want to be supportive,” Berson says. According to Berson, home deliveries are starting to pick up. “People are not only getting thirsty again, Portlanders like to support local producers,” Berson says.Berson is confident his winery will survive COVID-19. “There will be belt tightening, but we love what we do and we will push through. Besides, people drink wine in times of both great joy and misery.”