California wine supply drops 24%

A preliminary report from the US Department of Agriculture indicates that California’s 2024 grape crush is the lowest for 20 years.

California, which produces around 80% of wine in the US, is braced for an unusually small 2024 vintage.

According to The Pacific Region Grape Crush Report, published by the California Department of Food and Agriculture on 10 February, the state’s total combined red and white grape crush for 2024 was 2.844 million tonnes, down from 3.685 million tonnes in 2023.

This represents a depletion of 24% and the smallest crush in California for two decades. It is also significantly lower than the sum predicted by the recent Silicon Valley Bank wine industry report, published in January.

“When 2024 totals are calculated, we estimate that California will have crushed 3.2 million tons,” the SVB report stated.

Oversupply issue

Last year saw more than 37,000 acres (14,973ha) of Californian vineyard grubbed up to address an oversupply issue, but many believe this isn’t enough. Winegrape association Allied Grape Growers is calling for a further 50,000 acres (20,234ha) to be removed to help bring the industry into balance, said Natalie Collins, president of the California Association of Grape Growers.

Still more vines have been lost in wildfires during recent years, with LVMH-owned Newton Vineyard in Napa County announcing in February that it will permanently close four years after it was ravaged by the Glass Fire which swept through California in September 2020. Some reports suggest that just 2ha of Newton’s vines survived the fire, and its 2019 vintage, ageing in barrels, was also lost. In total, the Glass Fire destroyed 27,300ha in Napa and Sonoma.

Grape prices

There has been much talk lately, too, of declining grape prices across the US. The latest Silicon Valley Bank wine industry report, which analyses the state of the US market, anticipated that “given the acres of unharvested fruit in 2024, prices will drop in virtually all appellations.”

This is certainly the case in California, with the Pacific Region Grape Crush Report revealing that the average price for all varieties dropped 4.5% in 2024 to US$992.51 per ton, compared with 2023.

Red wine grapes commanded the highest price at US$1,311.15 per ton, but these were still down 2.6% in the state. The price of white grapes, however, fell through the floor, plummeting 4.8% to fetch just $698.61 per ton.

Napa grapes achieved the highest average price of any California location at US$6,863.46 per ton, though even Napa prices declined 2.3% from 2023.

Collins said she expects California to have an even smaller crush in 2025.

Related news

Wine royalty snaps up California vineyard for rebrand

Ricky Hatton is a fan of this knock-out Californian wine

Could a pink powder sabotage California wine's organic goals?