Oversupply Of Grapes In California Vineyards Could Mean Lower Bottle Prices

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LODI, Calif. KTXL -- That next bottle of wine may be a little cheaper.

A new report illustrates there has been an oversupply of wine grapes in California.

Cabernet sauvignon grapes have served Brad Goehring well over the decades -- but he said its days may be numbered.

“We’re running the numbers on this vineyard right now, whether we should continue farming it without a contract,” Goehring told FOX40.

Despite the challenge he now faces, Goehring may be one of the lucky ones.



“We’ve had a lot of wine grape growers who didn’t even harvest their crop, the price was so low,” said San Joaquin Farm Bureau Executive Director Bruce Blodgett. “Looked like dollar signs hanging in the vineyards.”

Blodgett said several wine grape growers in the Central Valley have either bulldozed their crop or allowed them to rot on the vine due to a lack of contracts.

“Frustration out there in terms of wine grape growers and the prices that they’re receiving,” he explained.

He’s also seen old wine zinfandel crops being bulldozed due to the current market trends.

A report from the Silicon Valley Bank Wine Division shares that the overabundance of wine grapes in 2016 may lead to cheaper wine.

“Could it potentially have an impact, yes? Is it gonna be major impact? We wouldn’t expect it to be,” Blodgett said.

Goehring said this current trend is all a part of a cycle.

“And so, I think you’re going to start seeing lower wine prices on store shelves and that should bode well for the consumer,” he told FOX40.

He said what he anticipates are consumers buying up more bottles, which may lead to more demand. That could make way for more growth – and more adventures.

“Wine is an amazing thing. It makes for amazing stories. There’s never an amazing story coming from somebody out of eating a salad,” Goehring said.

By Kay Recede
February 18, 2020
Source: Fox40.com