Randy Baranek of Fowler Brothers Farming Inc shows wine grapes rotting on the vine at an abandoned Central Valley wine grape vineyard. Photo / Patrick T. Fallon, AFP
Randy Baranek of Fowler Brothers Farming Inc shows wine grapes rotting on the vine at an abandoned Central Valley wine grape vineyard. Photo / Patrick T. Fallon, AFP
For more than a century, Lodi’s grape growers have supplied the old wineries that make this Californian city famous.
Rocketing costs, falling demand and competition from imports mean some are now abandoning their vineyards.
Randy Baranek, whose family has farmed these hillsides for generations, said thousands of acres (hectares)of vines – a quarter of Lodi’s production – have been removed in the last two years.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” he told AFP.
Baranek said an acre of vines can produce between eight and 10 tonnes of grapes, which can be sold for a maximum of US$3000 ($5200).
“Our costs are between US$3000 and US$4500 an acre to farm,” he said, as he picked his way through abandoned Chardonnay vines.
“We’re twirling the toilet.”
Even ripping out the vines is difficult, said Baranek, with California’s strict environmental rules making it expensive to convert a field, prompting some farmers to leave them to go wild.
Such abandoned plots have become commonplace in Lodi, where around 130 varieties of grapes are grown, and which is known particularly for its Zinfandels.
Slowing demand
The decline in production has been consistent over the last few years, reaching its lowest point in two decades in 2024, when 2.9 million tonnes of grapes were harvested, said Stuart Spencer, executive director of the Lodi Winegrape Commission.
This year, that figure is expected to fall by a further 400,000 tonnes.
Spencer says a shift in the shape of the wine market in the United States is at the root of the changes.
After three decades of growth, in which California, Oregon, and Washington state forged a domestic consumer base previously enamoured with the Old World wines of France, Italy, and Spain, the last three years have been challenging.
“The whole spectrum of those that contribute to the wine industry are struggling right now,” he said.
A worker picks leaves from a conveyor belt on a harvester during the harvest of grapes from a Central Valley wine grape vineyard in Lodi. Photo / Patrick T. Fallon, AFP
On the consumer side, changing tastes and habits mean “people are just drinking less”. he said.
The economy is also crimping demand, said Spencer.
“The inflation we’ve seen over the last few years is really impacting the consumer’s wallet.”
Vintners are reacting to this slowdown in demand by seeking out other suppliers.
“One of the big changes we’ve seen here in California is our largest wineries, who are also the largest grape buyers, are choosing to import cheap, bulk wine instead of purchasing local grapes,” said Spencer.
That price differential, he says, is the result of a skewed market.
“European wine growers are heavily subsidised by the EU ... So we are at a disadvantage. We are not playing on a fair, level playing field.”
From grapes to almonds
Some farmers are reluctantly giving up the grapes, at least on a portion of their land, opting instead for in-demand and lower-cost products like almonds.
It is not a decision they take lightly, because replanting a vineyard can cost tens of thousands of dollars.
It can also affect the wider community, with fewer workers needed for crops like almonds, whose harvest is largely automated.
“There’s no other talk on the streets; we’re all very worried,” said one worker who has toiled in the area’s vineyards for 10 years. “I don’t know what I would do without this.”
Kevin Phillips is among those who have made the leap, converting one of his generations-old vineyards to an almond orchard.
The area has good water supplies – key for thirsty almond trees – and the crop can cost just a quarter of what it does to farm grapes, he said.
Kevin Phillips looks at a recently planted field of almond trees that replaced a former Central Valley wine grape vineyard. Photo / Patrick T. Fallon, AFP
But one of the major attractions for a farmer is that demand is robust, and selling them is very straightforward.
“With wine grapes, you’ve really got to go out there and you’ve got to talk to wineries, you’ve got to make connections, you’ve got to hope that things work, you’ve got to hope that all the stars line up,” he said.
“Almonds, you don’t have to talk to anybody. There’s just a demand.”
