National supply chain issues impacting Central Texas wineries

Local wineries are struggling to get the supplies needed to make their products on time.

Michael Hasler, the owner of Decadent Saint Winery, recently moved his business to Bertram with a goal to provide a unique option for wine enthusiasts. 

"I make these products called extra hard mixers. They are a 20% alcohol and they’re an all natural mixer. They are made with real fruit," said Hasler.

In the past, getting his hands on certian fruits wasn’t an issue, but now it’s a different story. Hasler orders various unique fruits from across the US as well as from other countries. While the product itself is available, instead of it taking just a few days to get to his winery it now takes a couple weeks.

"What they’re telling us is they have trucks backed up in Denver, Austin, and different locations so It’s just very difficult to get supplies here in a timely manner," he said.

Without the fruit, it potentially means no product and time is ticking. "I’m afraid because I need to get oranges and passionfruit for my products. For passionfruit I’ve got a call in right now to my supplier and I’m told they are not sure when it will become available. That’s a real concern for us because you can’t grow passionfruit in America, it comes from South America," said Hasler.

It’s not just getting fruit that’s causing problems, even getting their hands on bottles can take weeks. This delay in shipment ended up being costly for Hasler. "We missed out on $10,000 because of that trucking situation," he said.

After dealing with COVID-19, Hasler said this is the last thing a small business like his needs to deal with.

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