56-year-old California winery closes down, lays off all workers
In what might be called the Great Wine Decline, the wine industry experienced a 21% decline in revenues from 2020 to 2025 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, leading to an increase in winery closures.
Total revenue for the wine industry fell by $19.7 billion over the six-year period, from $94 billion in 2020 to $74.3 billion in 2025. Silicon Valley Bank’s State of the US Wine Industry Report.
Industry experts blame the decline in consumption of the top demographic group, Baby Boomers, for the slowdown in wine sales.
The last one to close was a large winery in California. Kenwood VineyardsIt closed its operations on March 27 with no estimated date to resume operations, according to its website.
“Kenwood Vineyards is closed until further notice. Check back in April for updates,” a message on the website said.
Pernod Ricard Kenwood Holding LLC, owner of the Kenwood, California, winery, filed the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification letter with the US. California Employment Development Department On March 23, he claimed he would permanently close the business by March 31 and lay off all 14 employees by that date.
The Sonoma Valley-based winery will likely reopen under new ownership, as Pernod Ricard sold the 33-acre Kenwood Vineyards for $4 million to Kenwood Winery Land LLC, led by Gary Heck, owner of Korbel California Champagne and Brandy producer F. Korbel & Bros. Press Democrat reported.
F. Korbel returns as owner of Kenwood Vineyards after selling the winery to Pernod Ricard for less than $100 million in May 2014. The property alone was valued at $7.2 million, according to county records at the time.
Korbel purchased half of Kenwood Vineyards 30 years ago and took full ownership in 1999. With Pernod Ricard’s acquisition in 2014, the winery’s production increased from about 300,000 cases per year to nearly half a million, according to the Press Democrat.
Kenwood Vineyards was Pernod Ricard’s first acquisition in Sonoma County as part of its US expansion in 2014, but it was also its last wine stock before the final sale as the company shifted its focus to spirits.
Before selling the Kenwood winery, Pernod Ricard sold the Mumm Napa label to Napa Valley-based Trinchero Family Wine & Spirits in December.
Two other major California wineries also announced facility closures and filed WARN notices prior to Kenwood Vineyards’ closure.
E. and J. GalloThe largest wine company in the United States, St. Permanently closing Farm Winery in Helena, California, and laying off all 56 employees by April 15, 2026, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice California Employment Development Department On February 12.
