Sonoma County's 2025 wine grape value falls 17%

Sonoma County's agricultural production value fell 9.5% in 2025 to $758 million, according to the county's own crop report, as wine grape prices and volumes dropped even while apples logged their best harvest since 2016.

Wine grapes still account for most of the county's farm value, and that is exactly where the report's numbers turn. Sonoma County wine grape value dropped 17% to $518 million. Growers harvested 186,845 tons, down 12% from 211,511 tons in 2024, and the average price per ton fell 6% to $2,772.

Cabernet Sauvignon, the variety that carries the county's reputation and much of its revenue, took the sharpest hit: its value fell 21%, to $91 million from $115 million the year before. Sauvignon blanc moved the other way, up 20% to $38 million, one of the few varieties to gain ground.

Grapes get cheaper, apples get better: one county's ledger for 2025.

An early bloom that growers didn't want

Agricultural commissioner Andrew Smith attributed part of the decline to an early bloom combined with a cool spring and late rains, which forced an earlier harvest than many growers preferred and left meaningful tonnage on the vine once demand failed to absorb it.

The pattern echoes what growers reported this month in neighboring Rioja, where an unusually early harvest exposed its own fight over grape prices. Warmer, faster growing seasons are increasingly forcing wine regions on both sides of the Atlantic to pick before the market has settled on what the fruit is worth.

Apples and livestock cushion the fall

Not every category slid. Apple tonnage jumped 67% and value rose 55%, helped by mild spring temperatures and misty rains, even as bearing acreage shrank slightly. Livestock and poultry value climbed 23% to $101 million, and cannabis rose 28% to $17 million, though neither category comes close to offsetting what wine grapes lost.

None of this settles the county's larger argument about whether it is planted with more Cabernet than current demand can absorb. The report just puts a number on a shift wineries and the executives who run them have been describing anecdotally for years: grapes have gotten cheaper to grow and harder to sell at the old prices.