Wine Grape Glut
Workers operate farm machines at night to harvest wine grapes at Berryhill Family Vineyards in Clements, Calif., Sept. 10, 2026.
As featured on
It’s harvest time in California wine country, but many growers are struggling to sell their grapes as Americans cut back on drinking. Farmers are tearing out their vineyards, selling their land or planting other crops as they lose faith in the wine business. Bill Berryhill can’t find buyers for grapes grown on 200 of his 500 acres of vineyards in California’s San Joaquin Valley. The third-generation grower faces another year of losing money and wasting hundreds of tons of healthy grapes. Many California growers can’t find buyers as the industry produces more wine grapes than the market wants. Wine consumption is declining globally as people drink less.
