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Central Coast wine region looking to rebound after low yield in 2024

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In 2024, California's wine industry saw a big drop in the number of grapes crushed.

According to the Turrentine Brokerage 2024 Grape Crush Report, “the industry has not seen a crop this low since 2004."

“We're down more than any other region in the state, so we were down 29%,” said Eddie Urman, Turrentine Brokerage Central Coast Grape Broker.

According to the report, in 2023, the Central Coast crushed 526,670 tons of grapes. In 2024, it was only 340,865.

It's a staggering number in part due to a late heat wave in October and fewer clusters of grapes on the vine, according to Urman.

“Paso Robles was heavily impacted and so was the Santa Ynez Valley, mostly because of the varietals that grow in warmer climates and they had more tons out on the vine that experienced heat spells," he explained.

At the state level, the report outlines economic pressures that have also lowered demand for traditional wine, leading to less production.

“We've lost sales volume to RTDs (ready-to-drink), beer and seltzers, and other alcoholic beverages," Urman said. "There's also a large anti-alcohol movement right now that's impacting us.”

But hope is not lost.

“What we did is, we go out there. We don't wait for a sale to be made by a distributor. We actually go to the consumer," said Austin Hope, Hope Family Wines President and Winemaker.

Hope said despite the unique regional and state challenges, they had a positive sales year.

“Wine sales have been good. We've continued to grow. We're releasing new brands and just keep continuing to get into the marketplace. But definitely, Paso is becoming known," he said.

While it is an uphill battle for some wineries in the region, it’s a chance to experiment and try new ways to create more demand and succeed as a region.

“We're hoping to see more demand for the Central Coast grapes and we do believe we will see some demand," Urman said.

“It's one of the few regions still around that still has camaraderie and we still help each other, so our goal is to have Paso Robles be a household name globally,” Hope concluded.

For more on the 2024 Grape Crush Report, click here.