Oregon's wine industry closed 110 vineyards and wineries over the past year, according to the 2025 Oregon Vineyard and Winery Census. The figures, first reported by Oregon Public Broadcasting, show the state's grape production fell 25% in 2025 while wine sales dropped 16%. The closures come as crews are in the middle of this year's harvest.
For wine drinkers and workers across the Pacific Northwest, the numbers mark one of the toughest stretches the industry has faced. A staff reporter for this site has followed Oregon's wine sector for its regular readers and says the scale of the current slowdown sets it apart from past downturns, making it important to get the details right while the story is still unfolding.
Paul Durant, who owns Red Ridge Farms in the Dundee Hills, told OPB that this year's pinot noir crop looks healthy. He said the business conditions surrounding that crop have shifted in ways he has not seen before in the industry.
Unlike the 2008 downturn, which was tied to the broader recession, this slump does not trace back to one cause. Producers point to a mix of trade disruptions, changing drinking habits, an oversupply of grapes and rising costs of doing business.
Canada has been one of the sharpest pressure points. OPB reported that Canadian liquor boards pulled American wines from store shelves after the United States imposed tariffs last year. Oregon's wine exports to Canada fell 83% as a result.
Demand inside the United States has also been softening. Producers say younger consumers are drinking less wine, turning instead to non-alcoholic drinks or cannabis. Some winery owners also cite the growing use of GLP-1 weight-loss medications, which can lower interest in alcohol along with appetite.
Public health messaging has shifted too. The World Health Organization said in 2023 that alcohol is "a toxic, psychoactive substance," according to OPB. That statement came after years of debate over earlier research suggesting moderate wine consumption carried health benefits, claims that later studies questioned once researchers accounted for differences in lifestyle and income among drinkers.
On top of weaker demand, Oregon now has far more vineyards than it once did. OPB reported that the state had 480 vineyards around 2000, citing Oregon State University data. That number has since more than doubled, leaving more grapes in the ground than the market currently wants.
Growers are adjusting in response. Some grapes are going unpicked this season. Some vineyards have been pulled out entirely. Durant said he is pruning more heavily in winter to cut yields at Red Ridge Farms, bringing output down from about 4 tons per acre to roughly 3 tons. Removing more buds from each vine lowers how much fruit it produces, which can also raise the quality of what remains.
This season, Durant expects to harvest about 350 tons of grapes. Of that, roughly 80 tons will go toward the winery's own wine, while the remainder is expected to go to longtime buyers. He told OPB he expects those relationships to continue, partly because he is willing to extend more flexible lending terms and partly because buyers have built their own brands around his grapes.
Durant is also looking beyond traditional wine sales. He told OPB he is working with Oregon State University's Food Innovation Center on a sparkling drink made from pinot noir and chardonnay that skips fermentation. He is also pursuing new export markets, including Brazil, where he said there is interest in Oregon pinot noir. Wineries, he said, can no longer rely only on tasting rooms in the Willamette Valley and are instead showing up at outside events to reach drinkers.
Oregon's beer industry faces similar pressure, though OPB reports the impact has been milder so far. The Brewers Association says national craft beer production fell more than 5% last year. In Oregon, breweries including Rogue Ales, Upright Brewery and Culmination Brewing have run into serious difficulty or shut down.
Lisa Allen, president of the Oregon Brewers Guild, told OPB the state's beer sector has avoided the steepest national declines. She said Heater Allen Brewing in McMinnville has drawn visitors through craft nights, live music, trivia, board games and speed puzzling. Breweries are also adding non-alcoholic beer, kombucha and hop water to reach customers who are drinking less alcohol.
Oregon's harvest will continue in the coming weeks, with growers still picking grapes and filling existing contracts. The census figures and this year's closures point to an industry working through a significant reset even as its fields keep producing.
Read our previous article: California's Wine Glut Fills Bargain Shelves With Premium Bottles
