California wine country is going through some big changes.
Currently, Americans are drinking less alcohol than ever—only 54 percent of people drink alcohol, which is at a 90-year low—which spells trouble for the wine industry. As a result of this low demand and a massive drop in sales, producers in the Golden State have cut nearly 40,000 acres of vines over the past year, according to a new report from the California Association of Wine Grape Growers (CAWG).
By Oct. 1, 2024, 38,194 acres of vines were removed as of Aug. 1 of this year, the 2025 Standing Grape Acreage Study states. This means that, in total, farmers harvested 7 percent of California’s grapes, leaving about 477,000 acres behind. San Joaquin saw the most removal, leaving with 7,796 acres of land, equivalent to 10 percent of the vineyards found there. Following close behind is Fresno, which saw 6,250 acres disappear. Rounding out the top four are Monterey and Napa, with 3,781 and 3,117 acres removed, respectively.
Growers, hoping to avoid this grape surplus in 2025, saw last year’s harvest affected by a drop in U.S. demand, which was the lightest California had experienced in two decades — a 23 percent drop from 2023, largely due to no grapes being stored. San Francisco Chronicle Reported. In the last two years, farmers have had problems selling their crops, causing growers to leave 100,000 tons of grapes in the vineyards.
The elimination of bulls doesn’t spell all bad news, though. In fact, this process can help improve this glut of grapes, causing supply to even out with demand. This could mean that the 2025 grape crush is even lower than the year before. It’s in the range of 2.8 million versus 2 million and 2.5 million tons, the president of the Allied Grape Growers, a cooperative of California growers, said at a news conference. In addition, he predicts that California needs about 425,000 acres of grapes to hit a balanced market, meaning even more grape removals could be on the horizon.
As for Americans drinking less, even those who are turning to spirits and wine are consuming less overall, with their average number of drinks over seven days falling to 2.8, down from 3.8 per week in 2024. If these numbers drop, it could spell yet more trouble for the wine industry.
