Shifting tastes, shrinking sales: Napa Valley’s wineries adapt amid ‘shocking’ downturn

2026-03-21 - 14:30

From layoffs to export troubles, California’s wine industry is in flux – but small producers are innovating to survive After more than a quarter century tracking the seemingly endless growth of the wine industry, Rob McMillan was finally vindicated last year as California’s vigneron of doom. McMillan is the author of Silicon Valley Bank’s annual state of the US wine industry report, and the 2025 edition was a doozy. Since 2018, the bank has warned the industry that a correction in demand would shake the wine world. That reality is now here, with 2025 revenue down, the volume of wine produced dropping and a “bumpy bottom” in demand forecast in 2027 and 2028. Continue reading...