Harvest underway amid continuing demand weakness

California’s 2025 harvest is progressing amid normal conditions, with August and early September temperatures returning to or exceeding seasonal averages after a slightly cooler July. Picking is generally running to a normal timetable or slightly behind, although the ongoing lack of grape demand has created variations in vineyard management from plot to plot, so that ripening is by no means uniform across any one area.

This month’s report details what we have been seeing and hearing in the vineyards of the Coast and the Interior, and revisits our state-wide crop forecast. Financial strain, risk perception, and a lack of need has ensured there has been little change in the grape market over the past month, but we identify on what grapes there has been activity, and where. The report also addresses a big question a large number of growers are having to ask themselves as picking nears: Custom crush?

Broader challenges – reduced cashflow and the difficulty of obtaining financing; distribution and tariff uncertainty; economic weakness – are exacerbating the softness of bulk wine demand that has primarily been caused by declining retail sales and oversupply. The bulk market currently offers buyers opportunities to harness high-quality wines at discounted prices; we relay on what wines activity has occurred. The report carries our updated bulk inventory charts by total gallons and by varietal.

Paying subscribers can read the full Ciatti California Report for September on Substack.

If you are not yet a paying subscriber and would like access to the full report, including –

• actionable bulk wine and grape market intelligence;

• the latest bulk inventory charts by volume and by varietal;

• the Ciatti Bulk/Grape Market Barometer;

• updates on vineyard conditions and harvest;

• SipSource data on US wholesaler depletions;

• Saxco beverage packaging update;

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