Oil…Rodeos…Brisket…Wine(?)
When we think of major wine states beyond California, the usual suspects are Washington, Oregon, and New York—but Texas has passed them all in terms of wine’s economic impact on the state ($24.39 billion) and moved ahead of New York for number of wine producers (617 vs. 507).
“Big” is the image of the Lone Star State, both in terms of geographical scope and how they do things, and wine is no exception. Not long ago, Texas was a minor player but has moved up to the big leagues.
Much of Texas’s #2 rank in wine’s impact has to do with population (it’s #2), and the resulting consumption which supports the wholesale and retail sectors in terms of jobs, wages, taxes, and total output. Florida (#3 in both population and wine’s economic impact at $20.09 billion), has relatively little wine production but lots of consumption, especially at mega-resorts like the Disney complex. The Sunshine State’s 90 wine producers (vs. 617 in TX) provide less than a fifth of the jobs compared with Texas, but have 1,741 more retail jobs (on and off premise).
The point is that wine’s value-added nature spans far more than production. In fact, look at the Data below to understand this better. For reference, “Direct Impact” involves production through consumption, i.e. from vine to glass; “Supplier Impact” refers to goods and services involved; and “Induced Impact” includes benefits to local communities from spending by workers in the other categories.
