(Signalscv) - The nation’s multi-billion dollar wine, grape and grape product industries in the United States contribute more than $162 billion annually to the American economy, according to industry research firm MKF Research. Results of the study were presented Jan. 17 on Capitol Hill by the Congressional Wine Caucus – a 182-member body consisting of U.S. Representatives and Senators.

Nationally, the industry accounts for some 1.2 million jobs and $3.5 billion in agricultural sales from grape growers alone.

Add in multi-billion dollars generated in wine sales, production and distributor fees, retail and restaurant sales, and the wine-related tourism revenue generated and you have an industry ripe for the picking by any state or county willing to help support the burgeoning industry.

More significantly, perhaps, of those vine crushing numbers – California accounts for roughly 90 percent of the nation’s wine production, according to the report. And statewide, counties are reaping the bounty produced by the wine industry – except for Los Angeles County with what vintners refer to as restrictive regulations by the county’s health department, many requirements of which overlap state and federal compliance rules. In fact, when researching this story, nary a research report for Los Angeles County’s wine industry could be found.

So stifled does the industry appear to be in the county, it is not even recognized by the L.A. Economic Development Corp. as one of the key business clusters in the region. Yet, numerous economic benefit reports produced for the state of California and many of its counties document dramatic numbers generated by the wine industry.

California
Wineries in the state were responsible for just over 100,000 jobs in the 2012, according to a report prepared for the California League of Food Processors last year. Those jobs exceeded the number of jobs in each of the top food and beverage processing industries in the state, such as bakery products, fruit and vegetable canning, milk production and the soft drink industry. Grape production in the state accounts for the second largest agricultural industry.

California wineries represent the second largest food and processing sector, accounting for some $7.4 billion in direct and indirect spending alone in 2012 – and that was just for the wine making. Another $26 billion was estimated as the total economic benefit to the state. And many counties take advantage of the benefits created by the industry.

San Luis Obispo
Home to the Paso Robles wine region, the county realized some $1.785 billion in economic benefits from the region’s wine industry which included more than 8,100 jobs, wages of $241 million and more than $86 million in state and local taxes. Industry jobs accounted for nearly 8 percent of the county’s jobs, more than 9 percent of the private sector jobs, and represented the major share of job creation in 2012, according to MKF Research.

While wine grapes represented one-third of the county’s total agricultural output, there are other perks besides those being cited in health studies of the benefits of moderate wine drinking.

Tourism in the industry drew 1.2 million visits in which visitors to wineries, vineyards and tasting rooms spent more than $113 million, creating more than 1,800 jobs. And wineries and vineyards paid $10.5 million in property taxes.

Those same business entities, however, contributed more than $1.1 million in charitable contributions – a conservative estimate the report said.

Sonoma County
Farther north, the wine industry in Sonoma County contributed $13.4 billion to the economy in 2012, according to a report by Stonebridge Research Group. Because Moody Analytics pegged the entire Sonoma County economy at $20 billion, the Stonebridge report suggested the wine industry dwarfed other sectors in terms of economic benefits.

Two-thirds of wine industry and wine-inspired tourism accounted for that $20 billion.

The success has led to rapid growth in the industry, as well. There were 550 wineries in the county in 2014, up from 200 in 2005. The business cluster was responsible for more than 54,000 full-time jobs supporting $3.2 billion in total wages.

And transit occupancy tax collections from tourists staying at hotels reached $24 million by 2012. The wine industry accounted for 60 percent of that tourism, the report found. And the tourism economy had grown another 2.4 percent in 2014.

Napa Valley
The region’s wine production had reached $13.3 billion, according to a 2012 report by the Napa Valley Vintners. The industry provided 46,000 full-time equivalent jobs and wine tourism generated more than $1 billion annually.

Another $1.3 billion was generated in local, state and federal taxes. And Napa Valley vintners generated $84 million annually in charitable contributions.