(Wines&Vines) - With El Niño weather patterns finally breaking the years of California drought, no one is complaining about the rain––certainly not the parched wine industry. But California drivers are often mocked for their timidity of getting on the roads when it rains, which raises the question: How do wineries cope with fewer local tasters when storms come in?

According to numerous wineries and their local trade associations, rain is not much of a deterrent for business. ’Tis the season, not the weather, that limits tasting room traffic after the holidays.

Savaged by wildfires last summer, Lake County has more reason than most to welcome a wet winter. “First and foremost, like everyone else, we are so happy to see the rains,” said Terry Dereniuk, executive director of the Lake County Winery Association.

“The tasting rooms that I spoke with said that December was a good month for them. The overall consensus was that current traffic is more of a seasonal slowdown, although it is early in the year to draw much in the way of conclusions,” Derenluk said.

Nahani Fox, tasting room manager for the county’s new Boatique Winery and previously with Brassfield Estate, commented: “From my experience, the rain does not put a complete halt to tasting room traffic. It might slow it a bit, but not drastically. People are still willing and happy to be out wine tasting when it is raining. In fact, I have had many events still run even when it was raining, without a loss of attendees.

“If there is a current decline in tasting room traffic, it is easy to initially put the blame on the rain, but the real effects of the decline in tasters are because of the time of year it is. January and February are typically the slowest months of the year,” Fox said.

Ken Morris, communications and marketing manager at Grgich Hills Estate in neighboring Napa County, said, “Of course, this is usually the slowest time in the year: after major holidays and people getting their VISA (bills) for everything they bought for Christmas.”