Intentional Burning of Wine Vines Follows Record Low Sales

On a sunny morning in Soledad, California, Jason Smith watched a tractor rip out his pinot noir vines and workers set fire to the wooden posts that had held them up. After 51 years, his family business is done. “There’s literally no way for me to make money,” he said.

This same scene is unfolding all across California, which produces about 80 percent of wine in the US. Sales have fallen to their lowest point in more than two decades, due to younger drinkers turning to canned cocktails, seltzers, and nonalcoholic drinks. Public health warnings about alcohol have also cut into demand. In 2025, California made less red wine than white for the first time in decades.

Pinot noir tells the story of the industry’s sharp rise and fall. After the 2004 movie “Sideways” celebrated the grape, growers planted it everywhere. Smith saw his highest profits in the years right after the film. But production has dropped 30 percent since 2021. Growers are now pulling out vines or switching to white varieties that customers want more.

Roughly 38,000 acres of wine grapes were destroyed across California in 2025, and more than half a million tons went unharvested. Hundreds of wineries are expected to close before the industry bottoms out. Smith is selling his land and equipment to pay off debt, and he does not know what comes next. When asked about his favorite wine, he answered, “Beer and whiskey.”