Lower wine consumption since 2020 has forced major wine companies like E. & J. Gallo to shut down facilities and lay off employees.
The industry’s annual revenue has declined by $19.7 billion, or 21%, to $74.3 billion in 2025 since generating $94 billion in 2020, according to Silicon Valley Bank’s State of the US Wine Industry Report.
“Boomers are drinking less, and there are fewer of them every day,” wrote Rob McMillan, executive vice president and founder of the Silicon Valley Bank Wine Division, which is a division of First Citizens Bank.
“They are replaced by the younger cohorts who aren’t as much in love with wine as their elders,” McMillan, author of Silicon Valley Bank’s State of the US Wine Industry Report, wrote.
Gallo Winery closes crush facility
The largest U.S. wine company E.J. Gallo Winery said it will close its Turner Road West grape crush facility in Lodi, Calif., which a winery co-op originally opened in 1946, and lay off about 20 workers at the site, Wine Business reported.
Gallo will continue operating its Tetra Pak blending and bottling, as well as finished good distribution, at its nearby Turner Road East facility in Lodi.
The wine company had recently added a 200-milliliter Tetra line at Turner Road East.
“Gallo has decided to suspend crush operations at its Turner Road location,” E.J. Gallo said in a statement. “This decision reflects available capacity in our other wineries in the region.”
“Impacted employees have been personally notified and are receiving individualized transition support, including the opportunity to explore other roles within the organization.”
Workers voted for union
The closure announcement comes just weeks after 37 of the company’s 43 eligible employees at 5852 West Turner Road in Lodi on May 20, 2026, voted in favor of union representation by the United Food Commercial Workers, Wine Distillery and Allied Worker, Local 186D union, according to a National Labor Relations Board filing.
Gallo purchased the Turner Road facilities in 2021 from Constellation Brands, which in 2001 had acquired the facilities from the iconic Sebastiani wine family.
The Turner Road West grape crush facility serves growers who don’t have their own production operations.
Gallo closed other facilities
Gallo has been reducing its holdings this year, which has included the closing of its Ranch Winery in St. Helena, Calif., and laying off all 56 by April 15, 2026, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification notice it filed with the California Employment Development Department on Feb. 12.
