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BusinessActive · 42h

California wine grape growers face historic glut as U.S. wine demand collapses

About half of this year's California wine grape crop went into harvest without buyer contracts, forcing growers to dump fruit or rip out vineyards.

newest coverage 1d agosummary written 1d ago18 pieces5 likes & upvotes MastodonNewswiresYouTubeBlueskyGoogle News

What to know

  • About half of California's 2026 wine grape crop went into harvest without signed buyer contracts, compared with 70-80% under contract in a typical year.
  • Wine sales have fallen more than 20% over five years, and growers have removed or stopped cultivating roughly a quarter of the state's peak vineyard acreage.
  • Growers must choose between harvesting at a loss, leaving grapes unpicked, or replacing vines with crops like almonds, walnuts, pistachios and olives.
  • The oversupply is also hitting farmworkers and local economies in wine regions such as Lodi, per grower and industry accounts.

“Unfortunately, we do not have a buyer for these grapes. That’s unfortunately a reality for not just this vineyard but a lot of us around here.”

Kyle Collins, Operations manager, Allied Grape Growers · Philadelphia Inquirer (AP) ↗ · Sep 21

Bill Berryhill Third-generation Lodi-area grape growerJeff Bitter President, Allied Grape GrowersKyle Collins Lodi-based operations manager, Allied Grape Growers

California wine grape growers face historic glut as U.S. wine demand collapses
Independent UK

How it unfolded 3 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlesvideosposts

Peak 6 pieces in one hour at Sep 22, 8 AM; 18 pieces over 43 hours (11 articles · 1 video · 6 posts) Sep 22, 8 AM — 6 pieces · 1 article · 1 video · 4 posts — Mastodon 4, Newswires 1, YouTube 1Sep 22, 9 AM — 5 pieces · 5 articles — Google News 5Sep 22, 10 AM — quietSep 22, 11 AM — 1 piece · 1 article — Newswires 1Sep 22, 12 PM — 1 piece · 1 post — Bluesky 1Sep 22, 1 PM — 1 piece · 1 article — Newswires 1Sep 22, 2 PM — quietSep 22, 3 PM — quietSep 22, 4 PM — quietSep 22, 5 PM — quietSep 22, 6 PM — quietSep 22, 7 PM — 3 pieces · 3 articles — Newswires 3Sep 22, 8 PM — quietSep 22, 9 PM — quietSep 22, 10 PM — quietSep 22, 11 PM — quietYesterday, 12 AM — quietYesterday, 1 AM — quietYesterday, 2 AM — quietYesterday, 3 AM — quietYesterday, 4 AM — quietYesterday, 5 AM — quietYesterday, 6 AM — quietYesterday, 7 AM — quietYesterday, 8 AM — quietYesterday, 9 AM — quietYesterday, 10 AM — quietYesterday, 11 AM — quietYesterday, 12 PM — quietYesterday, 1 PM — quietYesterday, 2 PM — quietYesterday, 3 PM — quietYesterday, 4 PM — quietYesterday, 5 PM — quietYesterday, 6 PM — quietYesterday, 7 PM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Yesterday, 8 PM — quietYesterday, 9 PM — quietYesterday, 10 PM — quietYesterday, 11 PM — quietToday, 12 AM — quietToday, 1 AM — quietToday, 2 AM — quiet 1–23
4 PMyesterday8 AM4 PMnow · 3:48 AM ET
  1. 3

    Coverage of the grape glut spreads across outlets and video

    PBS NewsHour, the Independent, KCRA and other outlets republish or rebroadcast the AP report and accompanying video on California's grape oversupply and vineyard removals.

    1. 8 outlets Drop in demand for wine has California farmers struggling to sell grapes this harvest season

      first by Independent UK, 1d ago · also PBS NewsHour, Orlando Sentinel, Baltimore Sun, Mercury News, KCRA, AP News +1

      2 more headlines
    • us@pubeurope.com

      https://www. europesays.com/thestates/10042/ California farmers are struggling as demand for wine drops # APPLocalBusiness # AssociatedPress # Business # California # TopStories

      us@pubeurope.comMastodon7h agoview on Mastodon ↗
  2. 2

    Industry voices warn of ripple effects on farmworkers, local economy

    Kyle Collins, a Lodi-based operations manager with Allied Grape Growers, says he lacks a buyer for a petite verdot vineyard's grapes and notes the losses extend beyond growers to field laborers and the broader local economy.

    “That’s not getting into the pockets of the people doing the field labor, the farmworkers. It does have a trickle effect in the economy.”
    — Kyle Collins
  3. background

    Allied Grape Growers details scale of contract shortfall — Jeff Bitter, president of Allied Grape Growers, says about half of California's wine grape crop entered this harvest without signed contracts, versus 70-80% under contract in a typical year, and that farmers have removed or stopped cultivating roughly 25% of the state's peak vineyard acreage.

  4. background

    Growers dump grapes and uproot vineyards over unsold crop — Third-generation grower Bill Berryhill of Berryhill Family Vineyards near Lodi says he cannot find buyers for grapes on 200 of his 500 acres and plans to remove 50 acres once harvest ends, after three straight losing years.

  5. 1

    AP reports California grape glut amid falling wine demand

    An Associated Press report by Terry Chea describes California wine grape growers struggling to find buyers at harvest time as U.S. wine consumption declines, with the story picked up widely across outlets and social platforms.

    1. 2 outlets Massive drop in demand for wine has California farmers struggling to sell grapes

      first by The Independent, 1d ago · also Global News

      2 more headlines