'It was a very hard decision': California winery puts 3,500 acres up for sale as trade war hits US businesses hard

That won’t include the McManis brand, though. That can be discussed at a separate price, the listing said.

“It was a very hard decision for myself and my family,” Ron McManis, president and co-owner of McManis Family Vineyards, told the Sacramento Bee in a written statement.

The Canadian boycott

Part of the impetus for the sale of the McManis winery was the escalating trade war between the U.S. and Canada. Before the tariff battle, Canada was the top export market for American wine, and the country’s boycott of American-made alcohol has been a huge blow to wineries, especially the smaller ones that are family owned.

In 2025, Canadian bans cost the American wine industry $357 million, according to the Wine Institute. That total has increased over the course of 2026.

McManis Family Vineyards has been hit particularly hard by this trade war. While it has the capacity to crush up to 50,000 tons of grapes and bottle between 2.5 and 3 million cases each year, the winery recently lowered production to between 29,000 to 34,000 tons of wine grapes a year.

Tough market

Finding a buyer may prove challenging. As the Sacramento Bee reports, market demand for wine grape vineyards is limited, resulting in decreased property values.

And McManis Family Vineyards is hardly alone. Some California winemakers are uprooting or even burning their vines as wine sales hit their lowest level in over 20 years. Last year saw roughly 38,000 acres of wine grapes pulled out across the state, which represents roughly 7% of all grapes planted in California, according to data from the California Association of Winegrape Growers.