The supply chain for countless products is or has been disrupted—and that includes wine. There are ships languishing in ports and undelivered cases cramming warehouses to capacity, not to mention winemakers awaiting shipments of labels and bottles. The result: empty shelves at wine shops as well as the aforementioned rationing.
Demand for items key to wine production and purveying—bottles, corks, labels—has spiked as well. According to Shawn Fitzgerald, chief marketing officer of Thomas (formerly known as the Thomas Register of American Manufacturers), there was a 77% increase in demand for wine boxes and a 172% increase in demand for wine bottles in September 2021 over the previous month. The situation has even led to “a rationing of sorts,” said Mr. Fitzgerald.