"I think customers are drinking less because of it... Either they come in after consuming it, and order less wine, or they go for a smoke and don't drink afterward, or they go out less...". My colleague, the manager of a well-known New York wine restaurant, could not be more serious as we discussed the slowdown in business.
Post-Covid-19 euphoria, creeping inflation, global economic and political tensions weighing on local life and tourism, overabundant and expensive wine on offer, customers demanding more non-alcoholic drinks... All these structural and cyclical reasons are relevant, but perhaps we need to add another for the metropolis: the legalization of cannabis sales in 2021.
No one can ignore the fact that the atmosphere is so saturated with it. This correlation is nothing new. Researchers and journalists have been interested in it since 2016 and the Californian Cannabis Act legalizing recreational cannabis. From the impact of marijuana on the taste of wine or THC-infused wines, work has turned to consumers, including Gen Z who were coming of legal age to access both. Since then, trends have accelerated: for relaxation and disinhibition, cannabis is preferred to wine (and alcohol), seen as less healthy (although cannabis is marketed for therapeutic use), more expensive and less agreeing with their societal values.
Does the choice of this age group influence the others? By 2023, only the over-60s will be drinking more, while cannabis consumption is on the rise among all age groups. As the supply becomes overabundant, some producers are playing on the codes of wine to attract customers, notably the type of plant and the link to terroir, which is not without creating other tensions between productions. Oregon and California are two of the biggest wine-producing regions in the US. Here, the competition between these multi-billion-dollar markets is played out on two other levels: marketing and the future of agriculture.
First, there's the brand image. "You have to protect the Napa brand", declared Ryan Klobas, CEO of the Napa County Farm Bureau, in 2020, rejecting cultivation in the valley. A threat for him and many others, but an opportunity and added value for some. The region's economy depends on its wine industry. Cannabis would help to diversify the region's economy to compensate for the decline in wine consumption: it's the only agricultural production other than vines capable of amortizing land and investments, and what's more, with more lax cultivation regulations, showing that the real tensions lie elsewhere.
In a country where the wine growing culture is not deeply rooted, and where operations are mainly based on a "grower/maker" structure (grape/wine producer), the market logic prevails: land distribution, access to water, resources and manpower, will go to what yields the highest returns at the lowest cost and under legal constraints, unless you're in a place with strong branding, such as Napa, which can hyper-value both types of production. But the battle is real in Rogue Valley, Sonoma and Santa Barbara.
The temptation is understandable, as making wine becomes riskier and more expensive. But won't the same be true for cannabis, unless its cultivation, which is demanding in terms of human and environmental resources, is further regulated? At a time when forecasts are soaring for this new Eldorado, when the first signs of a slowdown are appearing, but when the desire to escape a certain reality seems stronger than ever, shouldn't we ask ourselves about the excesses of productivity and consumerism on the one hand, and existential malaise on the other, and ask ourselves how we can re-enchant this world with less excess and a more reasoned relationship with intoxication?
Source : Sur la côte ouest américaine, quand le cannabis remplace le vin : https://www.larvf.com/sur-la-cote-ouest-americaine-quand-le-cannabis-remplace-le-vin,4845111.asp