San Joaquin Valley farmers face wine industry downturn. Vineyards being abandoned
If you drive around the San Joaquin Valley these days don’t be surprised if you see vineyards with weeds growing between the rows and bunches of dusty grapes dangling from tangled vines.
The vineyards may look abandoned and in some cases they truly are, but most are being “mothballed” as wine grape growers weather one of its worse downturns in recent years.
The state’s wineries have temporarily stopped buying farmers’ wine grapes and in some cases are trying to cancel existing contracts due to declining demand and an oversupply.
An estimated 30,000 acres in the central San Joaquin Valley, the state’s leading producer of lower value wine grapes, are not being farmed, or minimally being cared for to keep the vines alive.
It’s one of the few options available, save ripping them out and planting another crop.
“There is a feeling of desperation out there,” said Jeff Bitter, president of Allied Grape Growers, a grower-owned seller of wine grapes.
Wine consumption, other factors impact vineyards
Triggering the desperation is a combination of factors, including people drinking less wine.
Last year wine sales in the U.S. fell 6% from 2023, according to industry data group SipSource.
Analysts say younger drinkers have branched out and are drinking craft cocktails, canned cocktails or choosing not to drink at all.
Increased attention is also being paid to health experts who warn that even moderate drinking puts you at a higher risk for developing health problems.
An unstable export market adds to the anxieties as major importers such as Canada are holding back on buying because of increased tariffs.
The decline in wine consumption is hitting the wine industry hard, including the Valley that has long been known as the workhorse of the wine industry by producing massive amounts of wine grapes for the value wine category.
Madera area almond and grape farmer Nick Davis is among those farmers feeling the pressure.
About 15% of his wine grapes, mostly Cabernet Sauvignon and French Colombard, don’t have a contract from a winery. Without a buyer, Davis had to decide if wanted to continue farming the grapes in hopes he can sell them on the spot market, or cut his losses and let the 180 acres of grapes wither on the vine.
“We asked ourselves if we should just walk away, does that make more sense in this market right now,” Davis said.
In the end, Davis chose to put his vines on a sort of life support where he will continue to irrigate the vines but will do little else. The vines will continue to grow and produce grapes. What happens to those grapes remains to be seen.
“We are crossing our fingers and will try and hang on long enough until the market comes back,” Davis said. “It is a waiting game.”
Wine analysts and observers expect the slumping market to continue until at least 2027.
Bitter, of the Fresno-based Allied Grape Growers, said the industry is sitting on about 1 million tons of crushed wine grapes left over from the previous year. And it will take several years to work through that supply.
“It is going to take a few more years of pain and suffering and there will be people who won’t get their grapes purchased,” Bitter said.
Pivot from grapes to almonds, pistachios or citrus
Bitter said that despite the ongoing wine grape crisis, some farmers may be in a better position to pivot out of grapes and into other crops, including almonds, pistachios or citrus.
Real estate agent JoAnn Wall recently sold a 285-acre vineyard in the Salinas Valley that was bulldozed to make way for a row crop. Wall believes more farmers will transition out of the wine grape industry if they have viable alternatives. That’s not the case in Napa and Sonoma where wine grapes thrive and other crops such as tree nuts do not.
“We will likely see a different vineyard market when this is all over,” said Wall, who is based in Templeton, near Paso Robles.
Nat DiBuduo, former president of Allied Grape Growers who now sells farm properties, agrees that the landscape of the wine industry is changing as larger wineries trim their workforces and smaller and boutique wineries become more of a destination for events.
DiBuduo mentions the layoffs at Bronco Winery Co., the creators of the $1.99 Charles Shaw brand that quickly earned the nickname “Two Buck Chuck” when it was sold at Trader Joe’s.
The company, based south of Ceres, laid off 81 workers in February and another 146 more in April. It bottles more than 50 brands of wine and is one of the largest wine-makers in the U.S.
“Smaller wineries are going to have to find a niche by making other products, making juice concentrate or opening up for wine tasting and hosting special events,” he said.
This story was originally published July 31, 2025 at 12:03 PM.
