Is California’s Wine Industry in Trouble?
California’s $55 billion wine industry is experiencing a downturn for the first time in decades. Wine consumption peaked in 2021 and has fallen each year, dropping 8.7% in 2023 according to one industry report. With bottles sitting on store shelves, cases piling up in winemakers’ warehouses and farmers unable to sell their crops, the ripple effects of the drop in wine-buying are felt throughout the industry. In California’s Central Valley, certain grape growers are diversifying, swapping grapes for other crops; others are demolishing their vineyards and transitioning to solar farms…
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