Wine Woes While the House is in recess (again), the Senate has been working on its version of a massive funding bill that most likely will eventually go to a House-Senate conference for a compromise, which the Republicans hope can occur before the 4th of July. Among the key areas of contention are the total … Read more

Wisconsin has a growing wine industry in all respects, based on WineAmerica-sponsored economic impact studies in 2022 and 2025, with the latter’s topline data shown below. Wisconsin’s history as a wine region goes back to the mid-19th Century when future California wine pioneer Agoston Haraszthy planted grapes near the Wisconsin River and created what is … Read more

The Waiting Game Washington, DC is a bizarre place in many ways, including the variable pace of work—from frenetic to idling. When Congress is in session, typically it’s a three-day week, because they fly in on Monday afternoon and leave Thursday afternoon, meaning Tuesday and Wednesday, and half of Thursday comprise their “work week”. However, … Read more

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 … Read more

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 … Read more