Lighter yields: Grape activity picks up cautiously
The advanced timing of California’s 2026 winegrape harvest has not let up, with the potential for perhaps more than 80% of picking to be complete by the end of September. This month’s California Report drills down into the harvest latest, setting out timing, yield and the grape market’s response by region and variety.
Yields are generally coming in lighter than average and some grape buyers have been seeking to replace missing volumes. The harvest can be said to be coming in lighter but not short: Given the large volume uncontracted, finding replacement grapes can prove relatively straightforward. But time is getting on. As this month’s report states: “At this late stage, the dialogue between prospective grape buyer and grower must be clear regarding what condition the vineyard should be in for the grapes to be contracted, and whether the buyer’s offer price covers the remaining farming practices required.”
Lighter yields may be driving some grape-buying activity but other market barometers – bulk-wine activity, multi-year contracting levels, pricing – suggest the industry’s fundamental problem is still to budge: Negative case-good sales volumes. This month’s report includes the latest SipSource data on US wholesaler depletions: Are signs of a sales stabilization emerging? The report also breaks down by vintage year the bulk inventory currently listed with Ciatti, in order to give buyers a nuanced picture of availability and help suppliers assess the marketability of their wines.
With harvest quickly moving toward completion, and the final quarter of 2026 already roving into view, thoughts are beginning to turn to 2027 and what the new year will bring on the bulk wine and grape markets. If pre-harvest grape demand does not concertedly improve by the end of the first quarter, it is possible that even more vineyards will be removed in 2027 than were pulled this year.
Read the full Ciatti California Report for August
Bulk wine suppliers are invited to list their 2025 wines with us and send in samples, and ensure they have their 2024 wines on our inventory list, so we are able to harness buyer interest as it arises.
Grape growers are recommended to inform us of the grapes they may have available next year, in 2026, so we can work to match-up suppliers with buyers.
Please contact Mark (+1 415 630 2548 / mark@ciatti.com ), Michael (+1 415 630 2541 / michael@ciatti.com ) or the Ciatti Customer Account Team ( cargroup@ciatti.com ).