The movie Sideways may have helped put Santa Barbara County on the map as a wine destination, but if there was a way to quantify the impact county wineries have on the state economy, a recent report may be able to shed some light on the subject.
All total, the 191 wineries in the county had a $1.7 billion economic impact in 2013 alone, according to a new study published by the Stonebridge Research Group in December 2015.
The 27-page report was presented before a packed house of several hundred people at the Alisal Ranch in Solvang on Jan. 5.
The report used data obtained from state and federal government sources—including wine sales and production, employment and wages, and grape production data—and fed into an economic model that’s used by several federal agencies, such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Reserve.
Also factored into the equation were data from the property tax rolls, according to Barbara Insel, who is the lead author of the study.
Some key findings in the report: Whether directly or indirectly, Santa Barbara County wine production provided more than 9,000 full-time jobs in the county; and a total of 191 wineries in the county attracted more than 860,000 unique visitors in 2013, generating more than $270 million in winery revenue, and nearly $200 million in state and federal taxes.
However, the report states that there is still a huge potential to make money within the county. More than half of the revenue generated from Santa Barbara County grapes comes from other outside wineries that are buying Santa Barbara County grapes.
In 2013, the county produced 87,411 tons of grapes, with some being shipped out of county to be processed into wine. If 20 percent of the crop flow were shifted back into the county, the report states, it could create an additional 1,205 jobs and increase the total economic benefits by $300 million.
“Right now almost no suppliers to the industry, other than catering and a little bit of printing, are in the county,” Insel told the Sun.
Bringing back the grapes could also attract ancillary businesses, such as more banks and legal services that serve the industry.
Recent growth in the wine industry hasn’t gone without notice from elected officials.
Third District Supervisor Doreen Farr takes issue with the proliferation of some aspects of the wine industry, particularly tasting rooms, which she said are not subject to the same stringent regulations as a wine bar, such as possessing alcohol licenses.
“The proliferation of wine tasting rooms has gotten around that because it falls into a different category,” Farr told the Sun in a previous interview, while not denying the importance the industry and adding that alcohol licenses are determined by the census.
A full copy of the report can be read at sbcountywines.com/economic-impact.html.
This article appears in Jan 14-21, 2016.