For news readers, there has been a steady drip of wine industry reportage as sour as last week’s wine. Sonoma’s wine industry, coming off a pandemic-era sales bump, is entering its fifth year of steady decline. 2018 was the year Sonoma County’s wine industry peaked (USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service). What followed was announced as a merger made from a position of strength: Sonoma County Vintners’ absorption by Sonoma County Winegrowers into a single new organization, Sonoma County Wine, will become effective January 2027. There is some indication that Sonoma County’s wine besotted political leadership is beginning to sober up.