California’s wine industry has notched double-digit growth in revenue, exports, payroll and taxes paid to state and national coffers since the industry was last surveyed four years ago, according to a report released Thursday by the advocacy organization Wine Institute and the California Association of Winegrape Growers.

Substantial growth came about in the teeth of increasing competition from other wine-producing states such as Washington and Oregon and foreign producers of often-inexpensive wine such as Chile, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.

In a business known for larger-than-life personalities and outsized egos, the economic impact of the wine trade is also big, especially in the Bay Area and the Central Valley, where the industry’s largest producers are concentrated.

The report, “Economic Impact of California Wine,” lays out some impressive numbers.

California is by far the nation’s top wine-exporting state, producing 95 percent of U.S. wine exports. All told, the broad economic effect of the wine trade generates $51.8 billion in the Golden State, according to the study. The research was conducted by the St. Helena wine business consulting firm MKF Research LLC and commissioned by the grape growers and Wine Institute, which is based in San Francisco.

“California wine is a signature industry for the state, creating 759,000 jobs in the U.S. and billions in economic activity, while generating significant tourism, trade, taxes and revenue,” said the Wine Institute’s president and chief executive officer, Robert Koch.

“The industry contributes to California’s international appeal, preserves family farms, protects the environment and provides enjoyment to many through its lifestyle, cuisine and culture,” Koch said in a statement prepared for release of the report at San Francisco’s Fort Mason Conference Center.

“Wine, sourced from nearly 500,000 acres of vineyards, is California’s No. 1 finished agricultural product,” said Karen Ross, president of the California Association of Winegrape Growers.

In California’s robust agricultural sector, wine finishes near the top in dollar value, according to statistics compiled by the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

In 2004, all grapes — wine grapes, raisins and table grapes — were the state’s No. 2 farm commodity by dollar value to the farmer, after milk and cream.

That same year, the $684 million in exported California wine made it the state’s second-most-valuable farm export, after almonds, which more than doubled that figure at $1.4 billion, according to the state.

While the state’s wine industry has been economically important since its post-Prohibition commercial revival in the late 1960s, its recent growth has been especially strong.

An estimated 309,000 jobs in California paying $10.1 billion in wages were attributed to the wine industry by MKF Research’s numbers crunchers. The state’s wine industry job totals jumped 37 percent since the last industry study in 2002.

California wine producers generated $2.9 billion in state taxes, licenses and fees in 2005, up sharply from $1.9 billion in the 2002 study, researchers said. “Wine generates higher taxes than many industries because, as a regulated industry, it pays excise taxes to state and federal governments,” the report observed.

The industry also plays a growing role in tourism, according to the report, which said the state’s wineries hosted 19.7 million visitors in search of wine tastings, picnics, and bread and cheese snacks in 2005 — up from 14.8 million in the previous study. Tourism expenditures grew to $2 billion last year, from $1.3 billion — a 54 percent leap.

The commissioning organizations said they expect the report “to provide solid data” to state and federal policymakers. Prominent among the latter are U.S. Reps. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, and George Radanovich, R-Mariposa, co-chairs of the Congressional Wine Caucus, who view themselves as industry supporters.

“As one of the top industries in California, wine is an economic engine that helps drive the state and national economies,” Thompson said in a statement timed to coincide with release of the economic report. “This report demonstrates our wine industry’s national economic significance, and agriculture’s future in value-added farm products.”

Source: SF Gate

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