Overlooking the freeway, Arroyo Grande's Laetitia Winery has been producing wines for decades.
“Every time our family was in town, we would [visit]. We knew everyone there, everyone knew your name, it was friendly and comfortable and home-like,” said Sharon Morris, Santa Maria resident.
Morris has been a loyal wine club member at Laetitia Winery and was confused to hear its tasting room suddenly closed.
“I’ve been a member for over ten years and not even getting an email that there was a closing or anything [was] really strange,” Morris said.
While she knows it will reopen, she says she won't be going back.
“They got bought out by a bigger company out of Santa Rosa and things started changing. All the familiar faces disappeared, you didn't have that feeling anymore that you were part of a family and the prices started getting higher,” Morris continued.
Ryan Watson is the Chief Marketing Officer at Vintage Wine Estates, which owns Laetitia Winery.
Watson says this is a temporary closure.
“The plan is to fully reopen a new, bigger and better Laetitia, continue to have periodic tastings, and find other ways to welcome our loyal members back to the property,” Watson said.
Right now, they do not have a date or time frame for when they will reopen.
As a company, Vintage Wine Estates is restructuring and reducing its workforce by about 15%.
“We've tried to think through how to work with those employees to try to minimize any damage to income. We are very committed to Laetitia so we do hope those employees find their way back to us in the future,” Watson said.
He says wine club members will receive an email Friday evening that outlines the details of the closure.
“Wine club members that need to pick up a shipment can stop by Laetitia or reach out to one of the managers or hosts to make arrangements for that,” Watson said.
He adds that Laetitia wine club members can also get complimentary wine tastings at any of Vintage Wine Estate's sister properties.
For any questions, Watson says you can sen an email to info@laetitiawine.com.
