Back to Business

Congress is back in DC, and the House finally passed the Farm Bill, which will now go to the Senate for an uncertain future.

The House version, which should have been passed years ago, includes some good provisions for the American wine industry: a doubling of export promotion funding for agricultural products, including wine; increases in value added grant funding; and a requirement that the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) conduct annual surveys of American grape acreage.

The last provision was introduced by New York Republican Representative Claudia Tenney following a similar requirement two years ago by New York Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer, the Minority Leader This is particularly timely in that the Sacramento office of NASS was recently shuttered, meaning the California grape survey would no longer be conducted. This would be a huge potential loss for the California grape and wine industry, and for the country.

High Noon?

The District of Columbia is unique: not a state, yet the seat of government of the most powerful nation on earth; home to iconic monuments and massive buildings erected on what used to be a swamp; and the wild, wild east where some new ideas originate.

Like on-premise cannabis lounges and wellness retreats.

First allowed in 2024, with about a dozen now in operation, these on-premise establishments are now part of cannabis dispensaries, which used to sell the product only for consumption elsewhere. Now their customers may consume it in “summer gardens” and enjoy social experiences like “educational tastings.”

Sound familiar?

So will bars and even traditional restaurants across the country face new competition? After all, high = hungry.

We won’t know until the trend evolves. But what we do know is that the competitive environment for wine has changed dramatically.

Life used to be so simple: There were 750 ml bottles of wine, 12 oz cans of beer, and 750s of distilled spirits, most of which needed to be combined with other liquids to make mixed drinks. Three categories appealing to largely different but loyal consumer bases

Today we have non-alcoholic or low-alcohol alternatives; ready-to-drink (RTD) spirits concoctions in cans; liquid cannabis; plus totally unregulated and untaxed intoxicating hemp; and so much more. In other words, the simple has become complicated.

Add to all that climate change, generational shifts, anti-alcohol sentiment, tariffs, soaring costs, and other macro factors, and it’s clear why these are challenging times for wine.

But wine will survive, like it has for 6,000 years.