The 2026 State of the Industry session at Unified was cautiously optimistic but did delivered a clear message: the wine industry is not in a temporary downturn, it is undergoing a structural reset. We are deep into this adjustment but there is still work to be done. Declining consumption, excess supply, margin pressure, and changing consumer behavior are no longer emerging risks; they are now realities. They are now the operating reality. What made this year different was the alignment between market data, producer behavior, and financial results. The conclusions echoed the themes in the most recent SVB State of the Wine Industry Report: slower demand, elevated inventories, capital constraints, and the need for sharper business discipline. A Global Market Under Pressure As Mike Veseth, The Wine Economist, noted, wine is now a global commodity. Approximately 45% of all wine crosses at least one international border. While global trade continues to grow, overall consumption is

A Time for Reflection & Collaboration By Steve Fredricks  As the 2024 harvest concludes, the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, and the year draws to a close, it's a natural time for reflection and giving thanks. While it's easy to get caught up in the current negativity caused by slow consumer sales and oversupply, let's appreciate a few of the positives—both in the past year and the one ahead.  We can be thankful the 2024 harvest was earlier, smoother, and lighter than in 2023. And, despite the multiple heat events throughout California, winemakers' feedback has been positive to excellent regarding the vintage's quality thus far. This presents continued opportunities for the industry, as wine quality for consumers is better than ever with diverse styles.  We can also be thankful that beyond the vines and wines, there is a growing awareness and an increasing sense of collaboration to address and turn the tide of our global consumer sales ch

2024 may well be one of the most challenging years in recent history for the American wine industry. Let’s change that. Multiple Alarm Bells At the recent Unified Wine & Grape Symposium in Sacramento, several prominent experts in various fields sounded the alarms during the enormously popular “State of the Industry” session attended by several thousand industry members. Wine Economist Mike Veseth compared the present with the distant past when similar clouds were on the horizon. Wine market analyst Danny Brager cited several troubling trends in consumer demographics, beverage preferences, anti-alcohol pressures, and apparent wine industry apathy. Steve Fredricks of Turrentine Brokerage repeatedly urged California wine grape growers to immediately tear out 30,000 acres of vineyards—roughly the total in New York State for grape juice, wine, and table grapes–to alleviate the current and chronic excess supply situation. Let’s Get to Work! We possess

Turning the Tables on Mike Veseth

By Carl Giavanti Mike Veseth (pronounced VEE-seth) is editor of The Wine Economist newsletter and author of more than a dozen books including Wine Wars (2011), Extreme Wine (2013), Money, Taste & Wine: It’s Complicated! (2015),  […]