Unpacking the cost of growing grapes w/ Natalie Collins, CAWG

In an oversupplied market with rising costs, being a winegrape grower is probably the hardest it has ever been. Natalie Collins, President of the California Association of Winegrape Growers, breaks down the cost of winegrape growing in CA, the challenges in the marketplace, and the policy dynamics in the US, CA, and EU that continue to exacerbate the challenges for CA’s winegrape growers. 

Detailed Show Notes: 

CA Winegrape Growers - based in Sacramento, lobbies at the state and federal level

• CA has ~5,900 winegrape growers and 550k planted acres

Key cost drivers of winegrape growing

• #1 labor, ~45-50% of budget (30-45% CA interior, 45-65% CA coast); doubled in the last 10 years, driven by:
• High min wage ($16.50; most pay $18-30/hr) → increases take entire pay curve up, not just bottom
• 2016 labor law change reducing hours before overtime pay → reduced farmworker take-home pay (OR provides an overtime tax credit to employers)
• #2 regulatory compliance (water, air, worker health, safety), ~10% budget
• Cal State SLO study on lettuce growers - compliance costs ~$1,600/acre (1,366% increase since 2006, 637% since 2022)
• #3 land - CA has some of the highest land prices in the US 
• #4 crop protection/fertility tools
• Farming costs ~$4k/acre Central Valley, $6-8k/acre Paso Robles, $8-10k/acre Sonoma, ~$10-17k/acre Napa

Grape pricing not rising w/ input costs - Central Valley ~$500-600/ton, Central Coast ~$1-2k/ton

• Bulk wine from Chile is cheap, and the US can’t compete on price

The annual CA Winegrape Crush Report shows pricing for all varieties by district

• No US federal support vs EU
• EU subsidizes at every level (growing, marketing, production)
• >e2B/year in direct and local support, enabling cheap wine production
• Crisis distillation - buy surplus wine to convert to alcohol (e.g., hand sanitizer)
• Vineyard removal and vineyard planting subsidies
• Aggressive marketing support (France investing $5B to support wine exports to the US w/ new tariffs)

US wines can have up to 25% foreign wine blended in and be labeled as US wine

2023-2024 - CA left ~300k tons/year on the vines; 2025 ~50% of vineyards don’t have a contract for the 2025 harvest; industry calling for another 50k acres to be removed (60k removed since 2022); all regions pulling out or mothballing/minimally farming vines

Tariff impacts (May 2025)- input costs increase, but can be positive for CA winegrape growers

• 2019 tariffs saw domestic wine increase its share by 10% vs EU wines
• Canada is actively removing US wines from shelves in retaliation; the US exports 10% of its wines, 40% to Canada

Deportations - creating fear, people are afraid to leave their homes for fear of their families getting separated

Seasonal labor is not big, 90% vineyards are mechanically harvested; H2A temporary workers (mostly from Mexico, all-in cost ~$30/hr, often more productive, cannot be paid more than domestic workers)

Economic impact of CA wine - 422k CA employees / 1.1M across US, $73B CA economic impact / $175B/year US

All agriculture is struggling in CA, replacement crops for grapes not easy (some almonds, pistachios, cherries); costs ~$30-70k/acre to plant a vineyard

Duty Drawback - a federal tax refund program meant to encourage exports

• If a winery exports wines, then imports them back, it gets 99% of import fees (including the Federal Excise Tax of $1.07/gallon) refunded
• If importing ~$3/gallon bulk wine, can save ~30%
• Mostly used by the top 5 wine companies
• 2024 - 38M gallons bulk imported (70M in 2022) vs ~70M gallons left on the vine in 2023

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