\n\t\t\t\t\t\tCalifornia winegrowers say they are facing one of the toughest markets in years, as shifting demand and cheaper imported alternatives put pressure on local vineyards.\u201cThis is the worst it\u2019s ever been. I\u2019ve never seen it this bad before,\u201d said Steve Felten, a fifth-generation grape grower in Lodi.Felten said some growers are leaving grapes unharvested, with vineyards showing signs of decline as demand drops.Industry leaders point to large beverage companies turning to imported grape juice and concentrate as a key factor.\u201cInstead of buying grapes from growers here in Lodi and throughout California, they\u2019ve stopped and found cheaper wine,\u201d he said.Under current federal labeling rules, wine can be labeled \u201cAmerican\u201d if at least 75% of the grapes are grown in the United States, with the remaining portion allowed to come from other countries.Some industry groups also point to a federal program known as duty drawback, which allows companies to recover certain taxes and import duties when products are exported. Critics say large producers can benefit from the program when using imported inputs, further incentivizing cheaper sourcing.Supporters of Assembly Bill 1585 say the current system can be misleading and harms domestic growers.\u201cThe heart of America\u2019s wine industry is right here,\u201d said Assemblymember Damon Connolly, the bill\u2019s author. \u201cSome wines bottled in the United States are being misrepresented to consumers as \u2018American\u2019 even though they are blended with cheap, imported grapes.\u201dThe bill would require wine sold in California and labeled \u201cAmerican\u201d to be made with 100% U.S.-grown grapes.\u201cYou don\u2019t see French wine with Australian wine. You don\u2019t see Italian wine with Chilean wine in it,\u201d Lodi Winegrape Commission Executive Director Stuart Spencer said.Backers, including the California Association of Winegrape Growers, say the change would improve transparency and help level the playing field for local producers.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tLODI, Calif. \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
California winegrowers say they are facing one of the toughest markets in years, as shifting demand and cheaper imported alternatives put pressure on local vineyards.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the worst it\u2019s ever been. I\u2019ve never seen it this bad before,\u201d said Steve Felten, a fifth-generation grape grower in Lodi.<\/p>\n
Felten said some growers are leaving grapes unharvested, with vineyards showing signs of decline as demand drops.<\/p>\n
Industry leaders point to large beverage companies turning to imported grape juice and concentrate as a key factor.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead of buying grapes from growers here in Lodi and throughout California, they\u2019ve stopped and found cheaper wine,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Under current federal labeling rules, wine can be labeled \u201cAmerican\u201d if at least 75% of the grapes are grown in the United States, with the remaining portion allowed to come from other countries.<\/p>\n
Some industry groups also point to a federal program known as duty drawback, which allows companies to recover certain taxes and import duties when products are exported. Critics say large producers can benefit from the program when using imported inputs, further incentivizing cheaper sourcing.<\/p>\n
Supporters of Assembly Bill 1585 say the current system can be misleading and harms domestic growers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe heart of America\u2019s wine industry is right here,\u201d said Assemblymember Damon Connolly, the bill\u2019s author. \u201cSome wines bottled in the United States are being misrepresented to consumers as \u2018American\u2019 even though they are blended with cheap, imported grapes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bill would require wine sold in California and labeled \u201cAmerican\u201d to be made with 100% U.S.-grown grapes.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t see French wine with Australian wine. You don\u2019t see Italian wine with Chilean wine in it,\u201d Lodi Winegrape Commission Executive Director Stuart Spencer said.<\/p>\n
Backers, including the California Association of Winegrape Growers, say the change would improve transparency and help level the playing field for local producers.<\/p>\n
See more coverage of top California stories here<\/a> | Download our app<\/a> | Subscribe to our morning newsletter<\/a> | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"California winegrowers say they are facing one of the toughest markets in years, as shifting demand and cheaper…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":274256,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[6898,6899,8222,7625,27463,78195,5552,3899,7,64057,9,8,14775,41180,11265,25955,85235,118819,118817,5706,118815,8027,13576,3290,23656,3628,118818,3429,435,118816,3945],"class_list":{"0":"post-274255","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-california","8":"tag-exports","9":"tag-imports","10":"tag-decline","11":"tag-america","12":"tag-american","13":"tag-american-made","14":"tag-assembly","15":"tag-assembly-bill","16":"tag-california","17":"tag-california-bill","18":"tag-california-headlines","19":"tag-california-news","20":"tag-demand","21":"tag-federal-program","22":"tag-grape","23":"tag-grapes","24":"tag-grower","25":"tag-import-duty","26":"tag-local-vineyard","27":"tag-lodi","28":"tag-made-in-america","29":"tag-napa","30":"tag-napa-valley","31":"tag-newsom","32":"tag-norcal","33":"tag-sonoma-county","34":"tag-steve-felten","35":"tag-tariffs","36":"tag-united-states","37":"tag-usa-made","38":"tag-wine"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274255\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/274256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}