As wine drinkers, when we savor our glass of liquid sunshine, we enjoy the health benefits from drinking wine. But most of us only have a vague notion of the economic impact of California wine industry to California economy. According to the Economic Impact of California Wine and Grapes 2009 released by the Wine Institute and CAWG, the wine industry has a 61.5 billion impact on the state as a whole. The report’s numbers illustrated that the economic impact of the wine industry stretches far beyond the vineyards and tasting rooms. For example, in 2009 Napa County had a gross payroll of 79 millions and 319 millions for vineyard and winery-related jobs and 533 millions in tourist dollars and Sonoma had a gross payroll of 73 millions and 235 millions for vineyard and winery-related jobs and 263 millions in tourist dollars. Even more impressive, Statewide allied industries such at tourism, trucking, packaging, printing, labs, research and more account for 28,546 jobs with total wages of $921,421,000.
Although I was not surprised to see the economic benefits that Napa, Sonoma and a couple other well-known wine regions in California have reaped from their vineyards and wine businesses, I was shocked by the astronomical dollar amounts. Furthermore, the numbers from the rest of the counties listed in the report really surprised me, from Alameda to Tulare, the economic impacts were huge and significant.
I noted that San Diego county’s numbers were not highlighted in the economic impact report. What a shame, considering that San Diego county has much to offer compared to other counties such as Riverside. But yet, Riverside county was listed, thanks to the commercial success of Temecula wineries. This lack of representation was not a surprise as the wine industry in San Diego county has not grown much in the last 20 years.
I’ve recently had an interesting conversation with a wine-grape grower in Ramona who used to live in Sonoma County for 20 years. He and his wife decided to move to Ramona to be close to their children who live in San Diego. He told me that in the 80’s, the Healdsburg/Alexander Valley/Dry Creek area had about a dozen of wineries. Now, Healdsburg has so many wineries that one cannot possibly visit all of them in one weekend. Although it’s hard for any of us to imagine that San Diego County wine industry could ever achieve the economic numbers that other counties have done, this eye-witness account and the 2009 economic impact report tell me that nothing is impossible if we have public policy and American entrepreneur spirit work hand-in-hand.
The conversation about Sonoma county's wineries reminded me of the movie, Bottle Shock, which told the story of the historic Judgment of Paris in 1976, and the Napa vintners, Bo and Jim's struggles and ultimate victory as the owners of the Chateau Montelena winery who made the winning Chardonnay. This movie was based on a true story. Chateau Montelena took the top prize in the white wine competition. As a winemaker, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie not just because of the characters but also the story and history of the struggles that California wineries had to go through to make a name for themselves 30 yeas ago against the formidable French wineries. I highly recommend this movie to wine-grape growers, winemakers and wine drinkers who love wines and have an appreciation for the hard work that goes into grape growing and wine making.
In a nutshell, the economic impact report helps us hold on our hopes that our winery would someday reach its full potential and become a viable business. As for now, when our balance sheets are filled with red ink, we have to remind ourselves of an old adage, to keep ourselves from being depressed and discouraged, “It’d take a big fortune to make a small fortune in wine business” while hanging on to our dreams for a better future.
