Politicians playing favorites with Washington state wine industry leaves sour taste

The wine industry has been a darling of Washington’s economic growth and marketing efforts for decades, and rightly so. With more than 1,000 wineries, 60,000 acres of grapes and a core of world-class vintners, Washington trails only California in wine production. The impact on Washington’s economy is estimated at $8.4 billion a year.

Wineries are well worth the support they get from public policy makers. But should they get more love than other up-and-comers in Washington’s adult-beverage industry: the breweries, cideries and distilleries?

To us that seems like playing favorites. That’s why a wine-centric bill moving through the state Legislature needs fixing, despite its strong bipartisan backing.

House Bill 1289, which passed the House Monday with a 91-6 vote, is a workforce development bill with a straightforward purpose: to loosen employee age restrictions. It would allow people between the ages of 18 and 21 to work at wineries under the supervision of someone 21 or older.

Hurray for Washington wineries, we say. They need a robust, diverse labor force to keep up with growth. Just because our youngest adults can’t legally drink alcohol doesn’t mean they should be blocked from pruning grapes, driving tractors, sanitizing lab equipment and topping barrels. (The bill doesn’t allow them to serve, sell or consume.)

Our state already allows underage winery interns; it’s silly to prohibit young adults from collecting a full-time salary, benefits and additional work experience until they turn 21.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Kelly Chambers, R-Puyallup, is a good proposal. It just doesn’t go far enough.

One might even argue that it discriminates against breweries and distilleries, which have gained a foothold around the Puget Sound region, while giving preferential treatment to wineries, which have opened around the state but continue to dominate east of the Cascades where the climate is ideal.

(So much for the myth that everything coming out of Olympia has an urban, westside bias.)

A different bill, House Bill 1483, would have taken a more holistic approach but appears to be dead this session.

Among those calling for a level playing field is Justin Stiefel, CEO of Pierce County-based Heritage Distilling Company.

Stiefel noted in testimony at a committee hearing that Washington’s 500 breweries and more than 100 distilleries are a growing force to be reckoned with, and their impact ripples widely through the economy.

“Just like the wineries are purchasing grapes that are grown in Washington, the breweries and distilleries are purchasing hops, grain, barley, corn, wheat, rye and so on,” Stiefel said, “and so we’re all contributing to the agricultural sustainability of the state.”

Over the years Washington lawmakers have invested in career development for future winemakers, spending millions on enology and viticulture programs at Walla Walla Community College and Washington State University.

In a similar vein, they saw fit a few years ago to put $2 million toward a new craft brewing and distilling center at South Puget Sound Community College. The program is set to launch this year in Tumwater.

It makes sense to capitalize on this investment by letting students and graduates go to work in the industry immediately, not force them to take a months- or years-long hiatus.

Stiefel noted the irony that he can retain an outside contractor with a 19-year-old employee to work on site at his distillery, but he can’t hire that same person for his own staff.

Broadening the ability to regenerate all parts of Washington’s beverage workforce is crucial, he said, “especially as a large number of folks in their 60s are getting ready to retire.”

Will Washington’s brewery, cidery and distillery sectors ever overtake the state’s world-renowned winemaking community? We wouldn’t bet on it, though signs of success are piling up. This past week, news circulated of a major coup for Heritage Distillery: Hollywood superstar Jamie Foxx had purchased Brown Sugar Bourbon, the high-profile flavored whiskey brand developed in good old Gig Harbor.

Of course people’s tastes vary widely, and our state’s alcohol industry isn’t a zero-sum game. This isn’t about Washington wineries versus everyone else. It’s simply about developing career pathways in an equitable way

The Washington Senate could accomplish that by amending HB 1289.

Let’s raise a glass, with an adult beverage of your choice, and toast to that.