California wine glut forces growers to rip up pinot noir vines

Soumya KarlamanglaNew York Times·31 Jul, 2026 03:00 AM6 mins to readA fire burns piles of grapevines and stakes after they were ripped out at Sarmento Vineyard in Soledad, Calif., on April 7, 2026. So much wine has gone unsold in California that it is often cheaper to let grapes rot on the vine than to harvest them. (Nic Coury/The New York Times) In California, a place famous around the world for its viticulture, winemakers produced less wine last year than at any point in the last quarter-century. It’s often cheaper to let grapes rot on the vine than to harvest them because so many unsold bottles clog the shelves of storerooms and