It’s harvest time in California wine country, but many growers are struggling to sell their grapes as changing drinking habits have caused demand to plunge. The decline is forcing some growers to tear out vineyards their families have grown for generations, reports the AP. Wine sales have decreased by more than 20% over a five-year period, causing prices paid for grapes to drop and prompting California growers to take roughly a quarter of the state’s vineyards out of production. Many growers are having to decide whether to harvest at a loss, leave grapes on the vine, or replace vineyards with crops more in demand such as almonds, walnuts, pistachios, and olives.
At its peak during the pandemic, California had almost 600,000 acres of vineyards, but farmers have removed or stopped actively growing wine grapes on roughly 25% of that land, said Jeff Bitter, president of Allied Grape Growers. This year, about half of California’s wine grape crop entered the harvest season without contracts with buyers, compared with 70% to 80% with contracts in a typical year, Bitter said. If they’re lucky, growers can sell their uncontracted grapes at a loss to buyers making concentrated syrup.
The downturn is a dramatic shift for the wine industry in California, which produces more than 80% of US wine due to its unique geography and Mediterranean climate. Wine sales peaked during the pandemic in 2021, when restaurants were closed and social gatherings restricted; people stocked up on wine and drank more at home. But over the past five years, wine sales have declined sharply, and they’re expected to fall further this year. There are a variety of forces driving the decline in wine sales. Baby boomers are aging out of the market, while young people are drinking less alcohol due to health and money concerns. Wine faces competition from craft beer, liquor, and canned cocktails, as well as cannabis.
Third-generation grower Bill Berryhill said he’s facing another year of losing money and wasting hundreds of tons of healthy grapes. “It’s just sickening,” noted Berryhill, 68. “You raise a beautiful crop, and it’s really a nice vintage this year, and you drop it on the ground. It’s sad. All your work is just down the toilet.” Berryhill, who owns Berryhill Family Vineyards near Lodi, in the San Joaquin Valley, said he can’t find buyers for grapes grown on 200 of his 500 acres. He plans to remove 50 acres of vineyards when the harvest season is over. “I will lose money for sure. It’s just a matter of how much,” Berryhill said. More here.
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