One-third of Napa and Sonoma wineries report lowering their tasting fees amid tourism declines

The wine industry is in turmoil amid declining U.S. alcohol consumption, bottle sales and Wine Country visitation. Much of the blame for the latter has centered on the high cost of tasting fees, which have doubled among U.S. wineries since 2018.

The 2026 Direct-to-Consumer Wine Report, released Tuesday by Silicon Valley Bank, a leading wine industry data authority, reveals that some wineries are responding to the criticism, or at the very least, the tourism slowdown: Roughly 16% of U.S. wineries lowered their tasting fees in 2025. This shift was most widespread in Napa and Sonoma counties, which have the highest tasting fees in the U.S.; roughly 30% of wineries in each region reported dropping their prices.

"The (wine industry) has spent the past seven years or so denying that there's an issue to face, and I don't think you can fix an issue until you identify it or are willing to accept it," said Rob McMillan, who founded Silicon Valley Bank's wine division in 1994 and authored the report. "The good news is that at this point, everybody is in agreement, and they're actively trying to find solutions to improve things."

The report collected 2025 data from 450 U.S. wineries in 16 states. The majority of respondents were small wineries producing fewer than 5,000 cases a year, and most were from California.

Bottle prices are also falling across California, according to the report. The average retail price for a bottle of Napa Valley wine in 2025 was $103, down from a record-high of $109 in 2024. In Sonoma County, the average bottle price is roughly $64, down from $69 last year. Santa Barbara prices fell the most of all surveyed regions: $12 following a $13 jump in 2024.

While more wineries are experimenting with lower tasting fees, consumers should not necessarily expect significant cost savings overall when visiting Wine Country. In Napa Valley, for instance, while 29% of wineries reported that they lowered their prices, the average tasting fee in 2025 was $79 - only $1 less than in 2024. (Across the U.S., the standard tasting fee fell roughly $3.)

This is likely because wineries are in an experimental phase, trying out a handful of strategies to increase tasting room traffic. Instead of lowering prices for their existing offerings, some wineries have added new entry-level experiences, such as two- or three-wine flights. The Fly by Flight experience at Napa Valley's Honig Vineyard & Winery, for example, is a 30-minute tasting of three wines for $30. Co-owner Michael Honig said it's attracting "first-time guests who wouldn't otherwise have walked through our doors."

Other wineries, like Napa Valley's Goosecross Cellars and Whitehall Lane, have launched matinee or BOGO pricing during slower times, when they might have otherwise not received guests at all, such as weekdays and mornings. A few wineries, including Clif Family and Raymond Vineyards, are offering free tastings on select days.

Several wineries told the Chronicle that they lowered the cost of one tasting but upped the price of another. Napa Valley's Bella Union raised its standard tasting by $20, to $65, and lowered its most expensive offering by $50, to $125.

This strategy could help explain perplexing changes in average fees in Sonoma, where 30% of wineries surveyed for the DTC report said they lowered their prices: There, the average cost of a standard tasting dropped by $7, to $47. Reserve fees, for higher-level tastings, however, increased by $3, to $95. Similarly, in Paso Robles, the cost of a standard tasting declined by $4, while reserve tastings jumped to $73, up from $61 - representing the biggest year-over-year increase in all surveyed regions.

Obviously, the intention behind lowering tasting fees is to drive visitation, but it's unclear if it's working: Only 25% of U.S. wineries that lowered their tasting fee reported seeing an improvement in tourism (the report did not break out Napa or Sonoma for this figure). Another 25% of wineries said that visitation stabilized, and 47% percent said it was too soon to tell. McMillan echoed the latter, writing in the report that "experimenting with tasting fee reductions is still in its early stages, so I believe the results thus far are too fragmented."

McMillan also had a recommendation: He told the Chronicle that he thinks wineries are too focused on tasting room sales, considering that visitation has been down since 2022. He believes more wineries should hit the road and bring their wines to consumers instead of waiting for consumers to come to them.

The majority of U.S. wineries rely on direct-to-consumer sales, finding it difficult to compete in a crowded, shrinking wholesale market. In 2025, more than 70% of winery revenue came from direct sales, according to the report; just 27% came from tasting rooms. McMillan pointed out that most wineries seem to be overlooking the potential of traveling to other states to pour their wines not only at festivals and dinners, but also the homes of wine club members, who may invite potential members to attend. While this can be challenging to fund and staff, especially in a downturn, he suggested that wineries hire trustworthy salespeople who reside in key markets. Last year, less than 2% of direct sales came from off-site events.

"It's a strange business model to double down on a declining market," McMillan said of the dedication to tasting room sales. "If you were starting from scratch, you probably wouldn't dive into that."

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