GRAPES OF WEALTH

STATE

Proposal calls for state money to cultivate wine industry

Pennsylvania wineries want the state's help to turn their reds and whites into more green.

In late September, the Pennsylvania Winery Association and the Pennsylvania Association of Winegrowers proposed Winegrowers proposed an economic-stimulus plan called Vintage 2012. The plan calls for the state to spend $2 million a year for five years to improve the quality and marketabihty of Pennsylvania wines.

The financial infusion would help Pennsylvania sustain and extend the momentum of its extend the momentum of its growing wine industry, said Jennifer Eckinger, executive director of the Harrisburg-based Pennsylvania Winery Association. The industry contributed $661 million to the states economy in 2005, according to a study commissioned by the Pennsylvania Wine Marketing and Research Board.

"With some investment, (the economic impact) really could grow," Eckinger said.

Under the Vintage 2012 plan, the money for the $2 million annual investment would come from the states general funds. Half of the money would be used to market and promote the state s wine industry. Another $1 million would go toward wine-making and grape-growing research and education. A new nonprofit organization, the Pennsylvania Wine and Winegrape Development Foundation, would administer these efforts.

The industry needs the money to keep up with wineries and vineyards in other states, said Stephen Menke, a wine educator at Penn State University. States that invest more in their wineries get more economic rewards, he said.

Legislators in New York provided funding to create the New York Wine & Grape Foundation in the 1980s to save the state's dying wine industry. This year, the foundation received about $3 million a year in state funds, said Jim Trezise, the foundations president. The wine industry in New York produces more than $3.3 billion ayear in economic impact.

"We've been the phoenix rising from the ashes," Trezise said.

More money from Pennsylvania also is needed to keep the quality and taste of Pennsylvania wines on par with wines in other states, Menke said. He estimated that between 10 percent and 20 percent of the state's wines are superior or undrinkable. Of those in the middle, about 35 percent have the potential to become high-quality wines. That compares with 50 percent in New York.

"We feel that we're falling behind other states," Menke said.

Additional state money would help Central Pennsylvania wineries because it would fuel growth that would bring bigger sales, better technology and more jobs to local operations, said John Kramb, coowner of Adams County Winery in Franklin Township. Kramb also is president of the Pennsylvania Winery Association.

Kramb said he is optimistic that, despite Pennsylvania's relatively conservative attitude toward alcohol, the General Assembly will be willing to allocate funds for Vintage 2012. Legislators would have to approve a state budget that includes money for the program.

"We want to become world class," he said.

[Sidebar]

Galen Troxell prepares to harvest grapes at Galen Glen Vineyard & Winery in Schuylkill County. Pennsylvania's wine industry contributed $661 million to the state economy in 2005, according to the Pennsylvania Wine Marketing and Research Board.

[Sidebar]

Stevie Posey, left, pours a wine sample as customer Melinda Sledzinski reviews the wine list at the Allegro Vineyards stand in West Shore Farmers Market in Lemoyne. Allegro Vineyards is based in southern York County. Sledzinski of Camp Hill is accompanied by her daughter, Crystal. The Pennsylvania Winery Association and the Pennsylvania Association of Winegrowers proposed an economic-stimulus plan to improve the quality and marketability of Pennsylvania wines.

[Sidebar]

"We feel that we're falling behind other states."

Stephen Menke,

Penn State University

[Author Affiliation]

BY CHRISTINA OLEN BY CHRISTINA OLENCHEK

chriso@journalpub.com