How Many Wineries Are There In Napa Valley (Napa County)
We are often asked how many wineries there are in Napa Valley. The answer is approximately 1,700 registered wineries according to the Alcoholic Beverage Control of California. That doesn't mean all of these registered wineries have physical tasting rooms you can visit. The number of Napa Valley wineries with tasting rooms is closer to 500. You can find the ten best Napa wineries to visit here.
How Many Napa Valley Wineries Are Registered Each Year
According to the ABC, an average of 170 new wineries have been registered each year since 2015. The number is trending up in the last few years. That is a big increase from the number of wineries registered in Napa in the 1980's and 1990's.
In the 1980's, an average of 3 new wineries were registered each year in Napa. That number jumped up to 7 wineries per year in the 1990's.
How Has Napa County Managed The Growth In Wineries
Napa County has done a lot to manage the impact of the new wineries on local citizens and on the environment. They have passed local ordinances that require wineries have scheduled wine tastings. This helps limit the total number of tasters coming to the area.
They made the permit process for opening a new winery much more complicated and expensive. The process of requesting a license can cost a prospective winery owner $500,000.00 with no guarantee that it will be approved. You can read more about the impact of regulations on small wineries here.
There are a number of local ordinances that are designed to protect sensitive areas of the county and help limit the development of hotels, resorts, and other hospitality type building.
How Many Tourists Visit Napa Valley
Even with the regulations, Napa Valley is a hugely popular destination for wine lovers. Just under 4 million visitors enjoyed Napa Valley last year. That is a staggering number of people for a relatively "rural" area. Roughly 30% of those visitors spend at least one night in the Valley. Tourists to Napa Valley spent over $2 billion last year. The annual growth in visitors is around 4%. This isn't surprising given the growth in the number of wineries in Napa Valley.
Conclusion
We will continue to monitor how many wineries there are in Napa Valley. Many factors will determine whether this growth rate can be sustained or if there will be a consolidation at some point. The trend of corporate wineries purchasing smaller Napa wineries appears to be continuing. We also see many small winemakers in Napa trying to capitalize on the popularity of local wines by making wines at local shared facilities. It will be interesting to see which of these trends is stronger as we move forward.
