{"id":413564,"date":"2026-07-27T07:07:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T07:07:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/413564\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T07:07:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T07:07:26","slug":"california-vineyards-eye-agave-amid-wine-industry-downturn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/413564\/","title":{"rendered":"California vineyards eye agave amid wine industry downturn"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was a Tuesday morning on Clear Lake. People congregated outside as the temperature remained mild. There were muffins and danishes, coffee and water.<\/p>\n

There were also alcoholic spirits for anyone who wanted an alternative morning boost featuring California-grown agave.<\/p>\n

Multigenerational farmers and Californians interested in pursuing the agriculture business gathered to learn about growing agave from the University of California Cooperative Extension and its partners.<\/p>\n

The Lake County event was billed as an agave and grape field day, with many wine grape growers in attendance.<\/p>\n

As the California wine industry faces an oversaturated market due to a steep dropoff in consumer demand<\/a>, some wine grape farmers are considering growing agave to produce what is known in the United States as \u201cagave spirits.\u201d<\/a> The climate-resilient plant is celebrated for its minimal water usage, lower labor costs compared to other commodities and its role in Mexico\u2019s production of tequila and mezcal, labels reserved for particular regions within the country.<\/p>\n

Joy Merrilees began experimenting with her Lake County wine grape business a few years ago, when the grape market hit its downturn. She and her husband started a grape-based gin label.<\/p>\n

After launching the gin product, Merrilees said they had the opportunity to expand further. She wanted something that could grow in her farm\u2019s volcanic soil and would need less water than grapes \u2014 thus agave came into the picture.<\/p>\n

\"Bruce Bruce Merrilees, left, and Joy Merrilees stand with their dog Tui amongst agave plants on their farm in Kelseyville earlier this month. They decided to plant several varieties of agave almost 4 years ago, as they began to notice a decline in the grape and wine industry. HG BIGGS hg.biggs@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

Now she has a half acre of agave, with a few rows that are three to four years old and the rest planted this past June. In two to three years, she will have a new product: High Chaparral Agave Spirit.<\/p>\n

While her grapes are still contracted with California winemakers \u2014 unlike many other grape growers \u2014 she and her husband are looking for the next crop to sustain them, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think being creative and getting innovative is really important for farmers to, kind of, stay in the black,\u201d said Merrilees, who runs Castilleja Farms in Kelseyville with her husband, which includes a 35-acre vineyard and a couple other commodities.<\/p>\n

Merrilees is one of about 100 agave growers in California, according to the UC Davis 2025 Agave Survey. Agave is planted in 38 out of 58 counties in the state, with about 1,000 total acreage. Fresno County, the highest agricultural producing county in the state<\/a> and nation<\/a>, saw significant increases in agave production last year, The Fresno Bee reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There are at least seven agave spirit producers in the state, according to the California Agave Council, the group helping steer the expanding agricultural community.<\/p>\n

\"Agave Agave plants grow on the Merrilees\u2019 farm in Kelseyville earlier this month. HG BIGGS hg.biggs@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

Other wine grape growers haven\u2019t made the jump into planting agave yet, but they have acreage in mind for it.<\/p>\n

Ken Richter, vineyard manager for Brutocao Family Vineyards in Mendocino County\u2019s Hopland, is honest about his interest in agave.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been trying to keep my job \u2014 been there for 30 years \u2014 and things aren\u2019t looking really good,\u201d Richter said. \u201cThat\u2019s why I\u2019m like \u2018What can we grow?\u2019 \u2026There\u2019s a little bit of buzz going around agave.\u201d<\/p>\n

All sides of Brutocao\u2019s business \u2014 grape growing, bulk winemaking, bottling \u2014 have seen sales dramatically decline, Richter said, leading the company to primarily focus on its own estate wine production and lay off the majority of its vineyard staff.<\/p>\n

The company currently mothballs vines \u2014 an industry phrase for when growers reduce the labor involved in grape farming and do not pick the fruit \u2014 and has pulled out vines over the past 10 years. Richter farms around 100 acres of wine grapes and has approximately 150 acres of fallowed and mothballed land.<\/p>\n

\"Grapes Grapes grow alongside fallow fields at Brutocao Family Vineyards in Hopland earlier this month. The fields are locations where Brutocao could grow agave, should it decide to diversify its crop. HG BIGGS hg.biggs@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

Richter said he grew some hay but didn\u2019t find it suitable for the climate at the vineyard. He thinks there are about 15 acres on the property that are right for agave based on what he learned at the field day. He likes that agave doesn\u2019t require as much labor and water as other crops.<\/p>\n

Planting and managing wine grapes per acre can cost tens of thousands of dollars more in the first three years of the crop compared to agave over the same time period, according to research from UC Davis and University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources.<\/p>\n

Richter plans to do more research before he presents the option to his bosses. Even if his bosses aren\u2019t interested, he owns a small ranch that borders his company\u2019s vineyard where he envisions planting agave.<\/p>\n

But he worries the market will follow in the wine grape industry\u2019s footsteps and become overproduced.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is going to be everybody\u2019s fear,\u201d Richter said. \u201cIt is an unsure market, that\u2019s for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Chardonnay Chardonnay grapes grow at Brutocao Family Vineyards in Hopland earlier this month. HG BIGGS hg.biggs@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

Michael Fowler shares Richter\u2019s interests in and concerns about agave.<\/p>\n

The owner of Top of Konocti in Kelseyville, Fowler has around 160 acres of farmland, most of it fallow. He still grows 30 acres of walnuts and five acres of wine grapes, both of which have seen prices fall in recent years.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s his third year without a grape buyer, and his budget is tighter, he said. He\u2019s doing the bare minimum for farming on the vineyard, which was planted in 2000. He\u2019s leaving the grapes to the birds and the bears.<\/p>\n

Fowler said he has around 10 acres that could be used for agave. He\u2019d plant it in increments, waiting for the agave to mature and then use its pups (sprouts at the agave\u2019s base) to plant more. He likes that agave is drought-tolerant and wants to keep his farm diversified.<\/p>\n

His next step is to check with nurseries to see which agave varieties are available and to weigh the risks of trying something new.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m afraid that we could see the same thing happen of overplanting and overproduction and overhype and a crash,\u201d Fowler said, referencing what happened in the wine grape industry. \u201cBut that\u2019s not an unusual cycle. But it is pretty hard on the little guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A A field of mothballed grape vines grows at Brutocao Vineyards in Hopland earlier this month. Mothballing is an alternative to fully removing grape vines when sales are down. It is a process during which growers allow grapes they plan not to harvest to grow without pruning and with minimal water. Growers hope that they will be able to bring these plants back if the industry recovers. HG BIGGS hg.biggs@sacbee.com
\n Related Stories from Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Lizzie Kane<\/a><\/p>\n

The Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n

Lizzie Kane covers California\u2019s agriculture sector as the Farm-to-Fork Reporter for The Sacramento Bee. Previously, she reported on housing for the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times. Her work has also appeared in Bloomberg, The Indianapolis Star, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Charlotte Observer.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was a Tuesday morning on Clear Lake. People congregated outside as the temperature remained mild. There were…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":413565,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8],"class_list":["post-413564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413564","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=413564"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413564\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/413565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=413564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=413564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=413564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}