Despite Northern California being a hub for great wine and beer (craft breweries have seemed to really take off in popularity over the last decade), beer sales are down and wine is more popular with millennials.

According to a recent report, Americans are filling up their beer glasses a little less as production dropped from 191.1 million barrels in 2013 to 189.2 million in 2016. Beer sales also slowed down by 1.6 percent last year when it had only slowed by .6 percent annually over the previous five years.

Millennials are playing a role in this – and that means more bad news for beer. As millennials get a little older, they are expected to gravitate toward premium drinks more and more, opting for wine over beer.

Even popular craft beers, for which many millennials thirst, have seen sales cool over the years. The growth of sales slowed by 4 percent last year, which represents the first time since 2004 it had not increased by double digits.

These trends have beer manufacturers looking for new ways to re-tap the market: from acquiring smaller craft beer companies to advertising breakfast beers.

At Mt. Vernon, we rely on our finely crafted winemaking to do the talking for us. We have been voted Auburn’s best winery for 15 years running. We are a highly-decorated winery, but we prefer to focus on our customers and wine members. Our year-round events, including our Wine Cave Dinner, Wine Releases and other special events revolve around our wine and our loyal customers.

Our lineup of wines includes Reserve Port, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Estate Barbera, Estate Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Sangiovese and so much more. You can even shop for wines online here.

If you want to sample what we have to offer in person, our tasting room is open Thursday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.