In the 43 years I’ve been in the wine industry, I’ve seen many challenges, but never so many major ones all at once: generational shifts, increased competition, cannabis legalization, climate change, global efforts to eliminate alcohol consumption, the whiplash of uncertainty surrounding tariff wars, potential changes to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, major cuts in federal funding and employment, state-level tax increase proposals, and so much more.
The first two require better marketing, while the rest involve public policy and the people who shape it. Each issue requires a specific response, but all of them can be buttressed by constant reminders of wine’s value to our economy at all levels. The best defense is a good offense, and in this case a proactive strategy.
Wine is a tasteful economic engine, the ultimate value-added product from vine to glass, which is produced and consumed (and taxed) in all 50 states. In 2025, the wine industry is boosting the American economy by more than $323 billion, including:
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10,761 wine producers
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763,080 vineyard acres
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1.75 million jobs
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$102.14 billion annual wages
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74 million tourist visits
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$14.13 tourist expenditures
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$53.24 billion total taxes
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$26.16 billion federal taxes
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$27.07 billion state & local taxes
The 2025 National Impact Study of the Wine Industry was sponsored by WineAmerica and conducted by John Dunham & Associates, a highly respected economic research firm specializing in public policy areas. Besides the three documents highlighting the key results, we always include the detailed Methodology and Frequently Asked Questions to be totally transparent. JDA also prepared similar studies for WineAmerica in 2017 and 2022.
Wine’s economic benefits come in three areas: Direct (production, distribution and consumption); Supplier (goods and services supporting the industry); and Induced (expenses in local businesses and communities). The detail below is the raw data.
WineAmerica is the National Association of American wineries, with winery, association and supplier members from 46 states—which adds up to 92 U.S. Senators, including several in key leadership positions. We also have relationships with many key House members, and work closely with the bipartisan Congressional Wine Caucus, co-chaired by Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) and Mike Thompson (D-CA).