SONOMA, Calif.—The U.S. wine industry hasn’t had it this bad since Prohibition.
The list of problems is long in California, the cradle of American wine. Vineyards have an oversupply of grapes. People are drinking less, especially younger drinkers, and tariffs have caused the biggest foreign market for U.S. wine—Canada—to dry up overnight. With this year’s grape harvest in full swing, way too much wine from previous years still hasn’t been sold.
Meanwhile, the unusually good weather is adding to the glut. The temperature was cool most of the year, without frost or heat, an environment that allows grapes to grow in abundance—and slowly develop the concentrated flavors that wine drinkers covet.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/californias-wine-industry-is-in-crisis-4f246efb