California wines have had a poor price-to-quality ratio for many years when competing with ubiquitous wine imports from other countries. It is difficult to sell

California wines have had a poor price-to-quality ratio for many years when competing with ubiquitous wine imports from other countries. It is difficult to sell California wine when you can buy a better bottle from France for half the price. Outside of California, many restaurants preferentially serve European wine because the price disparities are so large, particularly for relative quality. It benefitted from limited competition for a long time but that has not been the market reality for more than a decade.