California wine grape growers are struggling to sell their harvest as changing drinking habits have caused wine demand and sales to decline.
Wine sales have fallen more than 20% over five years, leading grape prices to drop and growers to take about a quarter of California’s vineyards out of production.
Many growers are choosing between harvesting grapes at a loss, leaving them on the vines or replacing vineyards with more profitable crops such as almonds, walnuts, pistachios and olives.
Third-generation grower Bill Berryhill said he cannot find buyers for grapes from 200 of his 500 acres and plans to remove another 50 acres of vineyards after this year’s harvest, the AP has reported.
The downturn has left growers facing continued financial losses while healthy grapes are being discarded and longtime family vineyards are being converted to other uses.
