Wine sales are down as much 20 percent year over year, thanks in part to less demand from both young and old consumers. Baby boomers, who have held down wine sales for years, are either dying or fearing imminent death from alcohol consumption. Even I, a wine writer and collector, have reduced my alcohol intake. Abandoning wine, however, isn’t in the cards.

The drop in sales are just starting to show. Large corporations, such as Treasury Wine Estates and Kendall-Jackson, have announced tasting room closings and significant layoffs. Their weak brands are being eliminated. Smaller, family owned wineries are trying to sell or declaring bankruptcy. Nurseries that provide important rootstock are closing as growers are ripping up vines at a clip of 7 percent a year.

One winemaker told us of a major producer that dumped 100,000 gallons of unpurchased wine.

Whether the wine industry is going through a bleak phase only to recover in a couple of years is up for debate. But for the short term production is going to decrease to meet a smaller demand.

I hope we’ll see a drop in prices as producers get desperate to sell inventory. But, more likely, they will sell juice to third-party bulk sellers, such as Cameron Hughes, Cam X and other operations that will not disclose the sources of some very good wine. It might become a buyer’s market for consumers.