USA

Wine Enthusiast reports that the downturn in the US wine industry is creating acquisition opportunities for well-capitalised producers and investors, as an unusually large number of vineyards, wineries and estates come onto the market. While many businesses are cutting costs in response to weaker consumption and excess supply, others are using lower valuations to acquire desirable vineyard land that would have been difficult to buy during stronger market conditions. The article points to recent purchases in California wine country and argues that experienced operators increasingly see the present downturn as a chance to secure scarce agricultural assets for the longer term, even though there is still considerable uncertainty about when wine demand will recover.

Vinetur reports that California’s wine industry may be moving closer to the opposite problem from the oversupply that has dominated recent years, after growers removed more than 38,000 acres of vines between October 2024 and August 2025. A further 40,000 acres could disappear by the end of 2026, potentially bringing productive vineyard acreage close to levels some industry figures believe could create shortages if wine demand stabilises or recovers. Spring Mountain Vineyard chief executive Peter Ekman argues that California could fall below the acreage needed to satisfy demand, although Allied Grape Growers president Jeff Bitter believes equilibrium may require fewer than 400,000 acres. Large stocks of unsold bulk wine continue to cushion the market, making the timing of any shortage uncertain, but industry participants warn that vineyards cannot be replanted and returned to full production quickly if supply eventually becomes tight.

KQED reports that California wine-grape growers are struggling to find buyers during the 2026 harvest as declining wine consumption leaves the state producing more grapes than the market requires. Some growers face the choice of harvesting fruit at a loss, leaving grapes unpicked or removing vineyards altogether, including vineyards that have been farmed by the same families for generations. The imbalance is also pushing grape prices lower and encouraging consideration of alternative crops such as nuts and olives, making the downturn in wine consumption an increasingly significant agricultural as well as wine-industry problem.

NBC Bay Area reports that Napa Valley wineries are changing how they operate as falling visitor numbers and rising supply costs intensify pressure on the region’s wine economy. Producers say higher costs for imported essentials, including barrels, bottles and corks, are coinciding with weaker tourism, prompting wineries to experiment with experiences such as complimentary tastings, film nights and comedy events in an effort to bring people back. The report portrays 2026 as an especially difficult year for Napa businesses, with wineries trying to protect margins without significantly increasing bottle prices at a time when consumers are already spending more cautiously.

UPI reports that the proportion of US adults who say they drink alcohol remains at 54%, matching 2025’s record low and representing the lowest level recorded by Gallup since it began tracking the measure in 1939. Only 13% of respondents now say they sometimes drink too much, another record low, while awareness of research into alcohol’s long-term health effects has risen to 86%, from 79% two years ago. Gallup says the reduction in drinking since 2023 is visible across most demographic groups, making the findings particularly significant for the wine industry because they suggest that the contraction in America’s drinking population is becoming a sustained behavioural shift rather than a one-year anomaly.

Shanken News Daily reports that Republic National Distributing Co, one of the United States’ largest alcoholic-drinks distributors, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Texas after selling or transferring most of its operations. RNDC listed liabilities of between US$1 billion and US$10 billion and more than 100,000 creditors, including significant amounts owed to suppliers. Its Georgia and New Mexico business and most joint ventures are outside the filing, but the collapse represents a major disruption for wineries and drinks companies relying on the American wholesale network.