Podcast Summary: "California's Wine Industry Is in Crisis"

Podcast: The Journal.
Date: December 4, 2025
Hosts: Jessica Mendoza & Ryan Knutson
Featured Voices: John Belleto (Sonoma County grower), Laura Cooper (WSJ journalist)

Episode Overview

This episode explores the severe crisis shaking California’s once-glorious wine industry. Once a hallmark of American culture and economy, California’s vineyards now face oversupply, plunging demand, export setbacks, and changing cultural trends. Through on-the-ground reporting and interviews with growers and industry insiders, the episode reveals the human impact of the downturn and examines how producers are fighting for survival amid uncertainty about the industry's future.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Golden Age of California Wine—and Its Unraveling

• Host Jessica Mendoza introduces John Belleto, a second-generation Sonoma farmer, highlighting the pride and passion behind his family's vineyards.
  • “We have multiple crews…picking and sorting the grapes and bringing them in so we can load them on the trucks, get them to the winery before it gets warm. Just a wonderful thing.” —John Belleto (01:08)
• For decades, California wine saw surging demand, driven by cultural moments such as the “French paradox” (health benefits idea) and the movie “Sideways.”
  • “[The French paradox was] something that was aired on 60 Minutes in the early 90s that essentially implied that drinking wine could be healthy.” —Laura Cooper (06:18)
  • “Sideways...that really helped bring California Wine country into the conversation…It became more of a tourist destination, like California as a whole.” —Laura Cooper (06:57)

2. Sudden Crisis—Oversupply Meets Fading Demand

(Timestamp: 04:21–08:58)

• In 2021, the industry peaked with $53.5 billion in sales, but by 2022 Americans were drinking noticeably less wine, mismatching long-established production forecasts.
• Vines are a long-term investment; supply was based on years of rising demand, which suddenly vanished.
  • “It really became a supply demand imbalance. The sales had dropped, people were drinking less, and there were all these grapes and really nowhere for them to go.” —Laura Cooper (07:33)
• Factors behind falling demand:
  • Health trends moving away from alcohol.
  • Rise of mocktails and THC beverages.
  • Younger generations (Gen-Z) see drinking as “cringe.”
    • “For instance, is it even cool to drink alcohol anymore?” —Laura Cooper (08:36)
    • “Now it's cringe.” —Jessica Mendoza (08:58)

3. Export Woes Compound the Problem

(Timestamp: 09:12–10:20)

• Trade tensions and U.S. tariffs led Canada—California wine’s top export market—to pull American booze from shelves.
  • “Really what's happening now is that Canada is refusing in most provinces to stock American wine, spirits, et cetera, California wines.”—Laura Cooper (09:41)
• US wine exports to Canada plunged 96%.
  • “That's 3,600 products from 35 US states no longer available.”—John Belleto (09:51)

4. On the Brink—How Growers Are Responding

(Timestamp: 12:04–15:23)

• Despite an ideal grape harvest, many grapes won't sell. John faces over $3 million in lost sales.
  • “To see them not being harvested…it's just very upsetting. But as an economic thing, you can't bring them all in because then you have to spend more money to process them.”—John Belleto (13:23)
• Growers’ desperate steps:
  • Letting fruit die on the vine.
  • Cutting labor hours (but avoiding layoffs where possible).
  • Selling bulk wine at much lower margins.
    • “If you have a major or big inventory of bulk wine, you're going to have to be discounting it greatly in order to sell it.”—John Belleto (14:13)
  • Diversifying—selling grapes on Facebook Marketplace, switching to other crops, selling off land parcels.
• Reinventing their business models:
  • “We're doing all these different things to try to bring consumers and new consumers here to the winery. Once people taste our wines, they always come back for more.” —John Belleto (14:53)
    • Examples: live music, lawn games, tram tours, and baseball fields to attract visitors, especially younger legal drinkers.

5. Push to the Extreme—Ripping Out Vines

(Timestamp: 15:23–16:34)

• Some growers consider or have started pulling out entire vineyards—either to replace with more marketable varietals or to leave land fallow.
  • “Every vine for us is like part of the family…it's devastation. But again, you have to put that aside because we have to run the business.”—John Belleto (15:36)
  • “I saw just hills that were empty that used to have wine grapes. So it was really staggering to see.” —Laura Cooper (16:02)

6. Will California Wine Survive? Outlook for the Industry

(Timestamp: 16:34–17:56)

• Despite crisis, insiders remain hopeful; the culture and tradition of California wine are resilient, but the business may look very different going forward.
  • “I don't think wine is going away. It will be here much longer than you or me. But I think that what it looks like might change.” —Laura Cooper (17:05)
• The holiday season (Oct–Dec) is a critical period that may tip marginal growers toward survival or exit.
  • “Maybe the future holds. Some folks folding, some folks pulling out of the wine industry, which I already started seeing…there might be more pain ahead before the future looks better.” —Laura Cooper (17:37)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “As we headed into 2025, we had about 25% of our grapes that were not contracted. And that was the first time in 25 years that that happened.” —John Belleto (02:17)
• “Too much wine, not enough drinkers.” —Jessica Mendoza, quoting John Belleto (02:40)
• “You grow grapes all year…it's just gorgeous. And then to see them not being harvested, that's…very upsetting.” —John Belleto (13:23)
• “Every vine for us is like part of the family. So on a personal level, it's devastation.” —John Belleto (15:36)

Timeline of Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment Summary | |------------|--------------------------------------------------------| | 00:07–03:00| Introduction to Sonoma winemaking & John Belleto’s story| | 05:52–06:57| Industry peak: “French paradox” & “Sideways” | | 07:05–08:36| Onset of demand decline & cultural shift | | 09:12–10:20| Canada export crash & its impact | | 12:04–14:13| Financial pain: grapes unsold, cost-cutting | | 14:38–15:23| Survival pivots: bulk wine, new experiences, diversification| | 15:36–16:34| Extreme responses: pulling up vines | | 17:05–17:50| Reflection on future outlook |

Closing Sentiment & Tone

Despite devastating setbacks, John and others remain personally committed and hopeful. Community and tradition are powerful, but economic reality may require painful change. The episode balances hard truths with resilience and a sense of profound loss for a beloved way of life.

• “Yeah, it's hard, but, you know, there's a lot of positive things in life, here, really is. You know, we live in a great place.” —John Belleto (18:12)
• “Cheers to that, John.” —Jessica Mendoza (18:22)

For additional context or further detail, listen to the full episode on The Journal’s feed.