When Michael Kaiser, Vice President of Government Affairs of WineAmerica, asked members about their concerns about this wine season, he repeatedly heard an answer: concerns about the shortage of glass bottles.

In the midst of fires and droughts, the supply chain dilemma during the pandemic is targeting one of California's most popular exports: wine. The shortage has left many winemakers with too much wine and not enough bottles.

"If you don't have the bottles you need, how will you get the product out of the barrel and deliver it to the customer?" Caesar said that the shortage came when many winemakers had just harvested this season's grapes.

WineAmerica is a trade association composed of 500 wineries, suppliers and associations, headquartered in Washington, DC 

Phil Long, owner of Longevity Wines in Livermore, California, said that one of the consequences of the bottle shortage is that many people have to store the wine in oak barrels for longer periods of time, making the wine strong — possibly overwhelming — Oak flavor.

Wine shortage? Wine supply and prices may be affected by wildfire smoke

"If oak completely kills the taste of the fruit, it's like drinking a sawmill," he said.

Lang said that small family-owned wineries like himself are facing the toughest challenge, because large wineries may have more jars to hold the wine so they don't stay in oak barrels for too long. Small wineries with limited capacity may have to leave the wine in the barrel.

Lang had moved some of his wine into the jar, but had to leave the rest in the barrel. He said that there is not enough time to change the taste of wine, but he is worried. At the same time, he bought glasses from other wineries to make up for the shortage.

Stephanie Honig of Honig Vineyard & Winery in Napa Valley, California, said her production team has seen shortages coming and was able to plan ahead by shipping glass from China, Mexico and France. Now, they plan bottling 18 months in advance to avoid shortages as much as possible.

Despite this, Honig said that even wineries that are expected to have shortages rarely have glasses to choose from, which has led many wineries to mix and match different types of wine glasses, or choose "not those beautiful, fancy, heavy bottles." . She said that other people who did not order in advance are "scrambling to get what they need."

Solving this problem is not as simple as switching packaging options. Honig said that, for example, switching from glass bottles to cans can be a “logistics nightmare” because wineries that use bottling lines do not have bottling equipment, which may incur huge upfront costs.

Some locals suggested that she try a bottle reuse program, encouraging people to send empty bottles back. Honig said this will also cause logistics problems. The winery ships its wines all over the world, so transportation costs and additional energy consumption will be high.

The winemaker says that bottles are not the only thing that is in short supply. From wood and cardboard to truck drivers, almost everything needed to make and distribute wine is in short supply.

"It's difficult," Honig said.

Kahn Kurtural, a professor of viticulture at the University of California, Davis, said, “The shortage of glass may be the least worrying issue for winemakers.” Instead, he pointed out that the low grape yield caused by drought is a bigger problem. .

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, California and other western states reported the warmest summer on record this year, as 18% of the United States experienced record high temperatures. According to a September report from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, severe to extreme drought is affecting approximately 35% of the country.

Kurtural stated that "one of the worst droughts in history" will affect the wine industry for at least two years. He added that, coupled with supply chain issues and rising energy and fertilizer prices, "this is a perfect storm."

Hornig said that due to the drought, the grape production in her vineyard fell by a third. She said that the drop in yields exceeded their expectations and was shocking.

"There is more uncertainty," she said. "This is definitely a stressful change."

Long responded to concerns about drought and climate change. In the past five years, with the increase in wildfires, smog pollution has become a bigger problem.

"When there is a fire, the thick smoke will stick around and enter the grapes," Long said. "In the end, it was like someone extinguished the cigarette."

Long said one of the vineyards that supplied Longevity had recently lost its entire crop due to the smell of smoke. Kurtul said that smoke and dust are currently not a major problem for vineyards in most wine-producing regions of the country.

Kaiser from WineAmerica said that the issues affecting the wine industry have not directly affected customers, whether through price increases or insufficient store inventory. He said that these may be about to emerge, depending on how long the problem lasts.

"It may be difficult to find some of your favorite wines," he said. "The situation may get worse before it gets better."

Honig encourages people to support local winemakers, who may be most affected by the problems that plague the industry.

"This is not always the case," she said, "so please be patient with us and continue to support us, and we will get out of the predicament together."

Contact the news reporter Christine Fernando at cfernando@usatoday.com or follow her on Twitter @christinetfern.