Support Our Wineries: Spotlight on Longevity Wine
Phil Long Sr.
Whenever I enter a tasting room, I feel a sense of excitement. From Napa, California to Santorini, Greece, the experience builds community with my tasting companions and also allows me to make new friends over a love of wine. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has changed the social wine tasting experience I adore.
Winery revenue streams were impacted after wineries were mandated to close their doors to the public. Wine Business estimates Covid-19 related revenue losses for the nation’s more than 10,000 wineries and more than 8,000 wine grape growers could reach $5.94 billion on an annualized basis in 2020. Rachel The Wine Nerd created the Support Our Wineries campaign “to encourage our wine-loving community to continue to support our local businesses, and to help wineries thrive through social distancing”.
So how can wine lovers support wineries? Wine Spencer had the opportunity to connect with the Founder and Winemaker of Longevity Wines, Phil Long Sr. to learn about his winery and how Covid-19 has impacted his business.
Longevity Wines is a family-owned boutique winery located in Livermore Valley, California. It is managed by Phil Long Sr. and Phil Long Jr. who serves as the Assistant Winemaker. Phil and his wife Debra began making wine in their garage almost 20 years ago, opened commercially in 2008, and was voted Livermore Valley’s Winery of the year in 2018.
Prior to the shelter-in-place order, weekends at Longevity Wines’ tasting room were vibrant.
“Previously we were open to the public noon to 5:00 PM, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We are now open for 5 hours on Saturday only, no tasting, and only wine club pickups.” says Long.
The tasting room of a winery typically makes up more than half its revenue. It’s how wineries build community and convert customers into wine club members. Many wineries are remaining open for pick up and online sales only to maintain their customer base and sense of community. Wineries are offering discounts on purchases and shipping costs to mitigate revenue loss while tasting rooms are closed. However, this was met with unforeseen obstacles. “There was such a surge in shipping sales, it resulted in a shortage of shipping supplies.” says Long.
Longevity Wines was identified as an essential business, which allows them to continue full business operations. For wineries, this includes wine production operations, bottling, warehousing, sales, delivery, and shipping. While Phil and his son continue to make wine, they must create new ways to reach consumers who may not be able to visit the winery. Phil is exploring ways to increase direct to consumer sales via his website for Longevity Wines. This approach could prove to be beneficial for winemakers as they revisit their business model to help offset a loss in revenue.
Support Our Wineries is not only a hash tag, but a call to action to encourage consumers to join a wine club, attend a virtual tasting, or purchase wine directly from a winery. To Phil, Support Our Wineries means taking advantage of wineries’ special offers. If you are looking to support a family-owned winery then check out Longevity Wines. They are currently offering 30% off and free shipping with code STAYSAFE off 3 bottles or more. Who knows? You may just fall in love with a new wine.
Wine Spencer is a contemporary wine education and consulting brand specializing in curated wine tasting experiences, in-home wine tastings, bridal showers, bachelorette parties, and other special events. We aim to make wine tasting accessible and fun for everyone. From the novice wine enthusiast to the seasoned wine connoisseur, we invite you to Decant The Experience.
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