Scheid Vineyards Inc., Salinas, Calif., said its loss for the first half grew to $3.2 million from a $1.2 million net loss a year earlier. Sales fells to $16.2 million from $19.7 million.
“It is the nature of the vineyard and wine business to be seasonal. Harvest occurs in autumn followed by the holiday season, which tends to increase case shipments. The early part of the year tends to have lower case and bulk wine shipments, and higher inventory buildups. Revenues and expenses tend to fluctuate based on these seasonality factors,” said Scott Scheid, president/ceo.
Mike Thomsen, Chief Financial Officer, said, “The 2017 results were primarily affected by a decrease in bulk wine sales to $1.8 million, as compared to $6.2 million in 2016. The 2016 revenues were driven primarily by sales of 2013 and 2014 vintage bulk wine inventories which were created by larger than average grape yields during those harvests.”
“The Company has increased its emphasis on selling bottled, rather than bulk wine. This requires holding a larger percentage of the Company’s wine production for case sales in future periods. In 2017, case sales increased 5% to $12.7 million, as compared to $12.1 million in 2016. The 12% increase in general and administrative, and selling expenses in the 2017 period was due primarily to the increased emphasis on sales, marketing and related administrative support of case sales.”