Wine offers $162 billion boost to economy
By Michael Doyle
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
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WASHINGTON — Drink up. It's good for the American bottom line.
The U.S. wine and grape industry pours more than $162 billion annually into the nation's economy, according to a first-of-its-kind study released yesterday. That counts jobs, sales, taxes and indirect benefits: the whole kit and caboodle.
And although California is the far-and-away leader, with 2,275 bonded wineries and 800,000 grape-planted acres, other states are moving up.
"This is something that reaches across all 50 states, and it's tremendously important to those states," said Democratic Rep. Mike Thompson, who represents California's Napa Valley.
The 30-page study, commissioned by the wine industry, is the first to tally the wine and grape story in all states. Potentially, it also surpasses mere academic interest.
Prepared by MKF Research, the analysis is replete with figures that wine-friendly lawmakers hope will pique congressional interest. For instance:
The study's political bouquet was immediately apparent, in the industry's decision to uncork it on Capitol Hill.
Thompson and his Congressional Wine Caucus allies were to distribute the study last night at a reception for newly elected House members. Thompson co-chairs the caucus along with Rep. George Radanovich, R-Calif.
The 250-member wine caucus is one of the largest in Congress. Reinforced by trade groups such as the Wine Institute and Winegrape Growers of America, which helped fund the new study, the caucus periodically hosts social events such as yesterday's reception. The studies and the socializing, in turn, are supposed to build support for specific legislative goals.
"We can really do some things that will help with the industry's growth," Thompson said.
Research is one priority, as wine-state lawmakers push for money to dig into vine-killing Pierce's disease and other threats.
Conservation funding to preserve farmland will be another front, as Congress rewrites a broader farm bill. The wine and grape industries also are part of a much larger specialty-crop coalition that's seeking a bigger piece of federal farm spending.
"We can't do much about the weather," said Jim Bedient, the chairman of the Winegrape Growers of America, "but the business climate is largely shaped by our public officials."
More than half of the $162 billion counted in the study comes from indirect or induced economic benefits. For instance, purchases by wineries create jobs in the electricity industry. This counts as an indirect effect. Induced effects occur when winery workers spend money in their communities.
