(Wine-Searcher) - Showing SoCal legislators a good time might make the state government look more favorably on wine country's needs.

Farmworker housing is one of the most important issues facing California's wine industry, and the way to solve it might be with some nice dinners – for the state legislature.

That was one of the takeaways from an informational hearing held in Napa on Wednesday by the select committees on wine for the state senate and assembly. Only three committee members from northern California wine country were scheduled to show up. They had two unscheduled but important guests: two assembly members on the select committee, one from Lodi and the other, Blanca Rubio, from Baldwin Park, part of the suburban sprawl east of Los Angeles.

Credit Rubio for her honesty. After four speakers extolled the wine industry's voluntary commitment to sustainability and fish-friendly farming, Rubio said: "Ninety percent of the conversation, I have no idea what you're talking about. Because I'm from southern California."

Rubio said she is very interested in water use, and has had a tendency to blame the agricultural industry, which uses more than half the state's total water supply during drought years. She urged the wine industry to bring southern California legislators to their regions so they can better understand the impact of laws they consider.