The US’ largest wine producer is closing its California winery and laying off dozens of production workers. 

Gallo Winery, which produces popular brands such as Barefoot, Black Box, and Dark Horse, issued the grim notice earlier this month. 

Gallo is permanently shutting down its winery in San Luis Obispo County and will close the facility in December. 

At the moment, 47 production workers are scheduled to retire from their positions at the winery on September 8, as indicated by public WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) records.

Employers are required to file WARN notices with the state to give workers 60 days’ notice before layoffs, closures, and relocations. 

The layoffs will roll out in two stages, beginning in September with more to follow in January, based on supplementary documents reviewed by the San Francisco Chronicle.

Gallo will continue to operate their other wineries, which includes multiple locations across California, Washington, and New York. 

The brand is headquartered in Modesto, California, but employs about 7,000 people worldwide, according to the company’s most recent fact sheet.  

Gallo Wine is shutting down its winery in San Luis Obispo County, California, permanently, laying off dozens of workers 

Joe Gallo, pictured, is the CEO of Gallo Wines. The winery has been kept in the family since brothers Ernest and Julio founded it in 1933

The precise effect on Gallo’s production volume remains uncertain, though industry insiders mentioned to the Santa Maria Times that these layoffs have been an open secret.

Daily Mail reached out to Gallo for comment and additional information on the winery’s closure. 

The American Association of Wine Economics ranked Gallo as the largest supplier in the US in 2024 with a 32.6 percent market share. 

Gallo dominated the market last year. The Wine Group came in second for top suppliers, but only had 10.3 percent market share. 

Barefoot was the top selling table-wine brand in 2024, raking in over $555 million for Gallo, according to Statista. 

Last year, Wine Business Monthly ranked Gallo as the top selling producer, with case sales estimated at $100 million.

The Wine Group came in second with $45 million, and every other producer failed to crack $20 million.  

Despite the company’s dominance in the market, the wine industry has suffered in recent years. 

The writing on the wall began in 2020, when wine consumption began to decrease for the first time in 25 years, the San Francisco Chronicle reported at the time, citing industry data. 

US wine consumption fell in 2022 from 1.06 billion total wine gallons to only 986 million, according to data from the Wine Institute. 

The Silicon Valley Bank’s recent data on the wine industry found that after three decades of growth, wine sales have flattened. 

The supplier produces popular brands like Barefoot, Black Box, and Dark Horse. Gallo is the largest supplier in the country 

The wine industry has struggled with decreases in demand as younger generations turn away from drinking or opt for canned beverages instead 

With younger generations drinking less and purchasing alternative alcoholic options like spiked seltzers, the demand for wine has decreased. 

‘The decline in the wine-friendly Boomer population and a change in the sentiment towards alcohol have led to the continued reduction in demand,’ the Silicon Valley Bank concluded.  

The industry has had to downsize due to decreased demand. Gallo was forced to sell their facilities in Edna Valley and Templeton last year. 

The Republic National Distributing Co., an alcohol wholesaler, cut over 1,700 jobs earlier this month and decided to halt production in California altogether.