The total statewide harvest was down 9.1% to 3,890,253 tons. Prices per ton fell 7.8% on average to $812.
“Cabernet Sauvignon was most surprising: many thought this was going to be the first year that Cabernet Sauvignon was going to produce more tons in California than Chardonnay. However, that was not the case; the Cabernet Sauvignon tons crushed was down over 106K tons (-15.5%) from 2018 for a total of 574,285 tons. The main reason: tons left on the vine and not crushed this year,” said Glenn Proctor of Ciatti Global Wine & Grape Brokers.
“Cabernet Sauvignon tons had continued to grow in California over the last few years, led by new plantings in many of the Coastal and North Valley areas of California. Cabernet Sauvignon was just 455,594 tons in 2015 and had grown to 679,476 tons in 2018, he added.
Chardonnay remained at the top for most tonnage of a winegrape variety crushed in 2019. But its state total of 638,029 tons was down 10.14% in volume and down 7.4% in price per ton from a year earlier.