2016 California Winegrape Crush Up 9%

Posted by David Eddy|February 14, 2017

According to USDA-National Agricultural Statistical Service, the California Winegrape Crush totaled 4,196,723 tons, up 8.5% from the 2015 crush of 3,868,459 tons.

Red wine varieties accounted for the largest share of all grapes crushed, at 2,255,300 tons, up 10.5% from 2015. The 2016 white wine variety crush totaled 1,745,490 tons, up 4.9% from 2015. Tons crushed of raisin type varieties totaled 98,205, up 6.2% from 2015, and tons crushed of table type varieties totaled 97,729, up 38.3% from 2015.

The 2016 average price of all varieties was $750.27, up 11.7% from 2015. Average prices for the 2016 crop by type were as follows: red wine grapes, $899.44, up 13.9% from 2015; white wine grapes, $594.01, up 9.9% from 2015; raisin grapes, $213.64, down 13.7% and table grapes, $153.05, down 39.4%.

In 2016, ‘Chardonnay’ continued to account for the largest percentage of the total crush volume with 16.0%. ‘Cabernet Sauvignon’ accounted for the second leading percentage of crush with 13.3%.