California’s wine grape growers are grappling with a crisis as falling wine demand forces them to deal with unsold crops and declining prices. It’s harvest season in the state’s famous wine regions, but many farmers are struggling to sell their grapes. Over the past five years, wine sales in the U.S. have dropped by more than 20%, leading to lower grape prices and forcing growers to pull roughly a quarter of California’s vineyards out of production. Some are choosing to leave grapes unharvested, while others are converting their land to more profitable crops like almonds, walnuts, pistachios, and olives. Third-generation grower Bill Berryhill, who owns 500 acres of vineyards near Lodi in the San Joaquin Valley, said he has 200 acres of grapes with no buyers. This year’s harvest has been particularly difficult, with many vineyards left without contracts. “It’s just sickening,” Berryhill said, standing in a field of unsold merlot grapes. “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.” He plans to remove 50 acres of vineyards after the harvest season, knowing he will face financial losses. The decline in wine sales is reshaping the industry. At its peak during the pandemic, California had nearly 600,000 acres of vineyards, but about 25% of that land is no longer being actively used for wine grape production, according to Jeff Bitter of Allied Grape Growers. This year, about half of the state’s wine grape crop entered the harvest season without contracts, compared to 70 to 80% in a typical year. Growers who can find buyers for their uncontracted grapes often sell them at a loss for use in concentrated syrup. Despite the removal of tens of thousands of acres of vineyards, the market remains oversupplied, and demand continues to fall. The downturn is a dramatic shift for California’s wine industry, which produces more than 80% of U.S. wine. For decades, the industry thrived as Americans, especially baby boomers, developed a taste for premium varietals like cabernet and chardonnay. However, wine sales have declined sharply in recent years, and the trend is expected to continue. In the U.S., sales of wine cases dropped 23% from 2020 to 2025, while total spending on wine fell 22%. Globally, wine consumption has also declined, with sharp drops in Europe and China. Factors such as aging baby boomers, younger generations drinking less alcohol, and competition from craft beer, liquor, and seltzers are all contributing to the decline. Growers like Berryhill are hoping the market will eventually recover, even as they face losses. “I love growing grapes. It’s in the blood,” Berryhill said. “Because I love them, I can weather this and I’ll fight through it.”