Placerville, Calif. — Sept. 7, 2025
El Dorado County’s mountain vineyards are producing high-quality fruit and a burst of value after a cold 2022, but local growers say they face the same market pressures squeezing grape producers statewide — cheap imports, tax loopholes and shrinking volume demand that threaten small, family-run operations unless policy and market shifts occur.
Key facts and timeline
-
El Dorado County reported 2,634 acres of bearing and nonbearing wine grapes and 82 distinct varietals in the county’s 2023 Wine Grape Survey. Total production jumped to 5,826 tons in 2023 (up 150% from 2022), with a total crop value of $9,745,567 in 2023. About 11.5% of 2023 tonnage was not sold or utilized.
-
Statewide, viticulture has seen steep contraction: roughly 25% of California’s vineyard acreage has been removed over recent years and shipments to market have fallen, creating pockets of unsold fruit and abandoned blocks. Industry leaders report hundreds of thousands of tons of grapes left unharvested in recent seasons.
-
Growers and winemakers cite global oversupply and pricing distortions — including heavy European subsidies and a U.S. federal duty-drawback process that can make imported bulk wine cheaper than domestic grapes — as drivers that have encouraged large buyers to source overseas rather than purchase California fruit.
What this means for El Dorado
El Dorado’s steep, high-elevation vineyards produce distinctive wines — Zinfandel, Syrah, Cabernet and a wide range of Rhône and Italian varieties — that command interest from sommeliers and wine lovers who prize mountain-grown character. The local industry is largely boutique: more than three-quarters of wine made here is grown and bottled locally, and many wineries are family owned. That structure helps preserve quality but leaves growers vulnerable to sudden market shocks.
County data show an encouraging rebound after the 2022 freeze: production and total crop value both climbed sharply in 2023. But the survey also shows a modest decline in average price per ton (about 3% down from 2022) and a meaningful share of fruit that was not used — a local echo of the larger California problem.
Voices from the vineyard
“The grapes being left unharvested is painful to see,”
said Stuart Spencer, owner and winemaker in the Lodi region, describing scenes now common in California’s wine country as buyers turn to cheaper imports. Spencer and other industry leaders say the combination of imported bulk wine, subsidy-backed foreign competition and U.S. tax rules has distorted the market, leaving growers with fewer buyers at harvest.
El Dorado growers and local wine advocates emphasize community resilience and the county’s long history of family farming — but they also warn that without fairer trade treatment, targeted state or federal support, or stronger direct-to-consumer sales channels, small vineyards will face hard choices: replant to other crops, sell to investors, or abandon ground.
Stakes for the local economy
The county survey underscores wine’s local economic importance: the 2023 crop value neared $9.8 million and El Dorado’s wines support tasting-room tourism, seasonal labor and related services (trucking, equipment, hospitality). Local leaders caution that continued loss of vineyard acreage statewide would ripple into rural communities and service businesses nearby.
What could change it
Growers and industry groups have proposed several remedies: closing the federal loopholes that favor duty-free or duty-reduced bulk imports; boosting promotion of U.S. and California grown wines; expanding local marketing efforts (wine trails, festivals and regional branding); and policy measures to level the playing field on subsidies and trade. Absent action, small producers say the long game for family farms is at risk.
