“This report further demonstrates the growing strength of food and agriculture as Ohio’s number-one industry,” Ohio Department of Agriculture director David T. Daniels said. “Ohio grape growers and wine makers are creating quality award-winning products that rival those produced in historic wine producing areas like California and Europe. This new study is proof of their success and their impact on Ohio’s economy.”

 Highlights of the report include the following:

 —2016’s full economic impact of Ohio wine and grapes is $1.3 billion. 

 —The number of wineries in the state of Ohio grew from 175 in 2012 to 265 in 2016, an increase of 51 percent.

 —Ohio is the sixth-largest wine producer in the country, producing 1.23 million gallons or more than a half-million cases of wine. The Buckeye State was ranked seventh in 2012.

—Ohio is the ninth-largest grape producer with 1,500 acres.

—1.38 million people visited Ohio wineries in 2016, up 16 percent from approximately 1.19 million winery visitors in 2012.

—Ohio’s wine, wine grape and allied industries generated $75 million in federal taxes and $72 million in state and local taxes in 2016 including more than $6 million in total excise taxes.