Vintner’s choice: Rip up the vineyard or let grapes die on the vine?

NAPA, Calif. Coming off a very tough 2024, the wine industry is finding 2025 to be another year of fewer drinkers and slower sales. A telltale sign of trouble in California’s wine industry may well be the appearance of ripped-out vineyard grapevines from the Oregon border to San Diego County.

Along Napa’s State Route 29, you will see that some grape growers have pulled out some or all of their vineyards. Demand for wine is down largely because younger generations are not drinking wine like the Baby Boomers.

Winemaker Deepak Gulranjani is the owner of Nicholson Ranch Vineyards and Winery.

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