With wine consumption declining nationwide and California’s winemakers feeling the squeeze, Sacramento has delivered a meaningful win for the state’s wine producers. Senate Bill 917 opens the doors of California’s certified farmers’ markets to winemakers, including many small winemakers who have long been shut out – giving them a new avenue to reach consumers directly. In January 2026, State Senator John Laird introduced Senate Bill 917 to modernize California’s farmers’ market wine regulations. The California Legislature passed the bill in August 2026, and it was approved by Governor Newsom on August 27, 2026. Codified at Section 23399.4 of the California Business and Professions Code (the “ABC Act”), the prior law permitted Type 02 winegrower licensees to obtain a Type 79 farmer’s market license to sell at certified farmers’ markets only those wines produced from grapes grown by the winegrower itself. In practice, this requirement closed the door on small, boutique wineries that purc

In our blog post on the issue of enforceability of the producer’s lien in bankruptcy , we noted the current difficult and uncertain wine market environment. Since that post, the market has not changed much. Given the risk that a lawsuit against a winery on the brink of insolvency may push it into bankruptcy, and the uncertain treatment of the producer’s lien in a winery bankruptcy, we’ve been asked by grape growers about alternative methods of attempting to collect payment from a delinquent winery. This post discusses the use of the California Department of Food and Agriculture (“CDFA”) complaint process as one such potential alternative. As explained below, although this process is an administrative procedure in the nature of alternative dispute resolution, rather than a lawsuit, it is likely to be taken seriously by respondent winery. Basic Background Processors of agricultural products, including processors that handle and process wine

Afternoon Brief: Seaport Strike Could Spike NYC Wine Prices, Leave Produce Rotting Offshore, Experts Warn

A looming longshoremen's strike at seaports across the East Coast is slated to hammer New York City's supply chains -- and experts said the labor action could lead to a spike in wine prices, in addition to hundreds of tons of fruit going bad on ships stuck outside the harbor with no place to dock...

Global Leader Continues to Expand Environmental Commitment   Few organizations or businesses have been as proactive in addressing environmental concerns and lessening their impact than the Sonoma County Winegrowers (SCW). Ten years ago, Sonoma County Winegrowers announced its intent to become the nation’s – and likely the world’s – first 100% certified sustainable wine region by 2019.  It was a bold, ambitious declaration but Sonoma County’s winegrowers were committed and, together, they succeeded in meeting their target in just five years.  Today, Sonoma County has a record 99% of its local vineyards certified sustainable. Five years ago, Sonoma Winegrowers became an exclusive participant in the California Land Stewardship Institute’s (CLSI) Climate Adaptation Certification program marking the first-time participating growers could obtain certification for a comprehensive greenhouse gas reduction and carbon sequestration program. &n

2024 may well be one of the most challenging years in recent history for the American wine industry. Let’s change that. Multiple Alarm Bells At the recent Unified Wine & Grape Symposium in Sacramento, several prominent experts in various fields sounded the alarms during the enormously popular “State of the Industry” session attended by several thousand industry members. Wine Economist Mike Veseth compared the present with the distant past when similar clouds were on the horizon. Wine market analyst Danny Brager cited several troubling trends in consumer demographics, beverage preferences, anti-alcohol pressures, and apparent wine industry apathy. Steve Fredricks of Turrentine Brokerage repeatedly urged California wine grape growers to immediately tear out 30,000 acres of vineyards—roughly the total in New York State for grape juice, wine, and table grapes–to alleviate the current and chronic excess supply situation. Let’s Get to Work! We possess

Napa County Farm Bureau’s Young Farmers & Ranchers Win State Committee of the Year

December 9th – Napa, CA–The Napa County Farm Bureau’s Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee (YF&R) has been recognized by the California Farm Bureau as State Committee of the Year. The […]