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CO VER S T OR Y He adds, "It doesn't always pay off. Growers are competing with wineries try- ing to sell their excess, and most of them have more experience." Nevertheless, Wilson agrees that the market has changed dramatically in 12 months. "I've never seen a change so quickly. There is almost no inventory left." Wilson says that bulk wine prices are pretty high at present, and this situation is likely to last for one to three years before switching back—hard. Timing is critical for selling bulk wine, Westec Tanks engineered Safe Harbor's wine storage facility with tanks ranging in capacity from 3,250 to 50,000 gallons. with "hundreds of thousands of gallons," but except for some 2011 wine, it's all gone now. "We have less than 100,000 gallons of inventory now," he says, "and there's a lot of interest in that." Silverado Premium does, too Silverado Premium Properties also makes wine from some of its large vineyard holdings. Doug Wilson, vice president of winery relations, says the giant Napa- based grower typically makes a little wine every year, but he admits that it's tricky when a grower decides to make wine. "It works in a big crop year when the market doesn't take all the fruit. In 2008, for example, Chardonnay was a glut on the market." too. There's a limited market after a year, particularly at smaller wineries. "Winer- ies want to empty their barrels and tanks and bottle the wine before they harvest the new crop." He adds, however, that big wineries can use some portion of older wine to blend. Wilson also cautions: "When a grower makes wine, he has to think like a wine- maker, not make wine through neglect. You have to work closely with the winery." Silverado likes to hold some grapes back and make a little wine to help mar- ket its fruit, but Wilson finds that many of Silverado's customer wineries will provide some wine from their own production, perhaps before blending. 24 Wines & Vines JUne 2012