Glass bottle shortage affecting Michigan wine industry

MICHIGAN, USA — The price of wine may be going up because of a shortage of glass bottles. It's one of the latest challenges because of supply chain issues. This problem is affecting multiple places in town, from wineries to wine stores in West Michigan.

The crew at Stoney Ridge Vineyards is using their tap a lot more lately.

"We've actually started kegging some wines. So everything that we're serving in house for glasses or tasting there for flights, we're actually pulling off from a tap now," Owner Dale Flannery says.

They're kegging some of their wine because it's harder to get ahold of bottles. The price of glass bottles is up about 20 percent in the U.S., and the supply of bottles made overseas has been hit hard because of the War in Ukraine.

 "It's been quite a spell to get it, and they say it's even gonna get worse," Flannery says.

He says they put in their last preorder for bottles months in advance.

"And we've just started recently received some of that in the last few weeks," Flannery says.

Their new system does have its perks, like fresher wine.

"We get a lot of dinner traffic, which is ordering by the glass instead of ordering a bottle," Flannery says. "So in the long term, it'll benefit us."

While the cost of wine may be increasing elsewhere, they haven't made any changes yet.

"The only way we can offset major changes by increasing our price. We're trying to hold our whole position with that," Flannery says.

At The Crushed Grape in Grand Rapids, they've noticed some brands increase their prices.

"Everybody's kind of getting their cut ,and when costs go up, fuel costs, labor shortages, it all adds up," Wine Associate Matt Labonte says. "So you add a couple pennies here, a couple pennies there, and before you know it, your $20 bottle of wine is now $22. And it's just the way it is sometimes you know. We'll do the best to keep them as low as we can."

For months, they've noticed the glass bottle shortage affect everything from wine to spirits, where bottles or crates are missing from a shipment. Sometimes, it throws off their monthly wine club.

"And unfortunately, when we order wine, sometimes they just don't come in and we got a scramble at the last minute to try to find a replacement," Labonte says.

While you might see small prices increases at local stores and wineries, he says it's mostly the type of upticks he expects every year.