Louis M. Martini Winery in St. Helena, pictured in 2022, is one of the locations impacted by Gallo’s layoffs. (Jessica Christian/The Chronicle)
Gallo, the largest U.S. wine company, is closing a Napa Valley production facility and has planned layoffs at four other California wineries and tasting rooms, resulting in the loss of 93 jobs.
Gallo will permanently close the Ranch Winery, a large production facility set on 70 acres in St. Helena, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notice filed with California authorities. Gallo purchased the Ranch Winery in 2015; the closure will impact 56 employees.
The notice also informed of staff reductions in St. Helena, at Louis M. Martini Winery and the Orin Swift tasting room (which completed an edgy renovation in 2023), and in Healdsburg, at the sparkling winery J Vineyards and at Frei Ranch, another large production facility. Layoffs will impact a variety of departments, including winemaking, hospitality and culinary.
Gallo, which is headquartered in Modesto, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The company acquired Whiny Baby, a brand targeted at Gen Z drinkers, in 2025, but has otherwise been in a major downsizing phase for two years amid a global wine industry crisis – characterized by slumping sales, declining alcohol consumption and a grape oversupply – that’s not expected to bottom out for another year or two. In 2024, the company sold two Central Coast winemaking facilities: its Edna Valley facility in San Luis Obispo and the Wild Horse winery in Templeton. (Gallo still owns the Wild Horse brand.) Last July, Gallo announced it was closing its final Central Coast facility, Courtside Winery, a 300,000-square-foot production facility in San Miguel, which impacted 47 jobs.
Many of the country’s wine conglomerates are offloading and consolidating, and activity has picked up in the past few weeks. This month, Foley Family Wines & Spirits, the 14th-largest U.S. wine company, closed its production facility for the historic Central Coast winery Chalone and laid off its entire staff. Trinchero Family Wine & Spirits, the third-largest company, listed two of its top vineyards for sale, and public entity Treasury Wine Estates, the seventh-largest U.S. wine company, paused dividend payments following a large writedown on its U.S. businesses and a 17% drop in revenue over a half-year.
This article originally published at California wine giant Gallo closing facility, laying off workers at four other locations.