Like much of what we brought with us, our battle strategy did not survive contact with the enemy. In this case, all of the viniculture that is in private hands is doing well.
The vineyards and vintners have been adjusting their product lines to meet the changing demands. Most of the production goes to small restaurants and bistros.
There's little call for stocking a luxurious wine cellar.
And, sad to say, the "personal touch" has all but disappeared.
I'm not even close to a winebibber, but I would think you wouldn't want anyone touching it. It's bad enough they stomp on the grapes with their bare feet. (Do they still do that?). Touch the bottle, but not the wine!
We did switch up for a bit and produced a really nice line of brandies. Have a few aging right now. Excellent nose, a little cloudy, but with a fantastic finish.
Since we lost the usage rights for the uniforms, manual labor has been hard to come by.
Was going to try a batch of UT absinthe and see what happens. I think we have something on board that is pretty close to the grande wormwood and anise. Chemical composition is a bit off though. A bit heavier in diethyl amides, they tend to form C-8 isomers during production.
Should be entertaining...