Another California wine giant shuts site and axes staff as chaos rips

Another California wine giant shuts site and axes staff as chaos rips

Wine makers are pulling the cork on California.

Another giant in the world-famous wine rising area is shutting down and slashing staff, making it the fourth since the start of 2026.

Jackson Family wines has stopped manufacturing at its Carneros Hill facility in Sonoma’s Carneros area, shedding more than a dozen staff, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notice filed with California authorities on February 12. 

Communications director Sean Carrol told the SF Chronicle that Carnero’s Hill – beforehand owned by Buena Vista Winery – “served as overflow production capacity and was not tied to any specific brand.”

The Jackson Family Wines confirmed the closure of the facility. Ilya S. Savenok

He added the site had “become underutilized,” permitting the company to consolidate.

Jackson Family Wines is understood as certainly one of the top US wine producers, the sixth largest wine company in the nation.

The company is the sixth-largest wine producer in the nation. San Francisco Chronicle by way of Getty Images

It owns the Kendall-Jackson label and about 40 other manufacturers, producing round six million instances a yr, according to an trade review. More than 25 of those wineries are in the Golden State.

Last week, major winemaker Gallo announced the closure of a large manufacturing facility and the elimination of almost 100 jobs across the wine rising area of Napa and Sonoma counties.

Considered the world’s largest winemaker by quantity, Gallo filed a “warning” discover with the California Employment Development Department on Feb. 12, confirming it should completely pull the cork on the Ranch Winery in St. Helena.

Jackson Family Wines owns the famed Kendall-Jackson label. Getty Images for NYCWFF

Gallo is also slashing staff at some of its other labels, including the Louis M. Martini Winery and the Orin Swift Tasting Room in St. Helena, as nicely as J Vineyards and Frei Ranch in Healdsburg.

“Gallo is aligning parts of our operations with our long‑term business strategy to ensure we remain well‑positioned for future success,” a spokesperson for the company told The Post.

“As part of this process, we made the difficult decision to reduce certain Wine Country operations. These changes are driven by market dynamics, evolving consumer demand, and available capacity across our wineries.”

Earlier this month, Foley Family Wines & Spirits shut down its manufacturing facility for the historic Central Coast vineyard Chalone.

Four major wine makers have announced closure of websites since the start of 2026. Neilson Barnard

In January, Constellation Brands notified more than 200 people at the Mission Bell Winery in Madera that they’d be out of labor. And Jean-Charles Boisset Collection closed two Napa Valley tasting rooms.

According to a latest report from Wine Business Monthly, there have been 4,727 wineries in California in 2025. As of February 2026, there are 4,646.

The variety of American adults who say they devour alcohol has fallen to 54%, according to an August 2025 Gallup ballot.

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