WWI News

Small businesses in 22 of Washington’s 39 counties may apply for disaster loans to help compensate for lost revenues attributable to excessive summer heat’s effects on farming and ranching. The Secretary of Agriculture this summer declared an agricultural disaster, and now small businesses that support farm and ranch businesses may apply for low-interest loans to help compensate for lost business during the disaster period of March 15 through July 21, 2023. The deadline to apply is Nov. 14, 2024.

The 2024 Grape Report will launch on Monday, November 4th. 
 
This year’s report captures the same basic information as in the past: grapes harvested, sold, and purchased in WA, but has an added field to collect acreage by AVA. In order to participate in Washington Wine Commission events, such as Taste Washington, wine reviewer tastings, and Road Trip, your business must be up-to-date on all assessments. 

To File  – Login to the Industry Portal at www.washingtonwine.org, select ‘Login’ from the top right-hand corner.

 
Please complete your 2024 Grape Report by December 31, 2024.

The Washington Winegrowers Association, Washington State Wine Commission and Washington Wine Institute are working together on an industry-wide winegrape acreage report. This is a crucial step for our industry, and we are asking for your participation.

If you did not receive the email with full details, you can find it HERE.

The acreage report will be similar to the Commission’s production report, which highlights important stats for the entire industry – see 2023 production report here. Though the acreage fields are optional, we highly encourage all Washington growers to fill them out. Data will be aggregated to preserve confidentiality. 

Minimum wage is adjusted annually based on the federal Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). On Sept. 30, L&I announced the minimum wage increase for 2025. With a $0.38 increase, the minimum wage will be $16.66/hour beginning Jan. 1, 2025. Read more…

The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board is excited to announce the creation of the Liquor Compliance Consultant team!

Since its creation in 2021, the Cannabis Compliance Consultant team has succeeded in providing education to help licensees achieve and maintain compliance. The Liquor Compliance Consultants will follow this same charge with liquor licensed locations.

Liquor Compliance Consultants will provide technical assistance and education in support of the state’s licensed liquor industry. This team will provide education and support to retail liquor licensees, including those with a special occasion license, banquet permit, and other specialty liquor permit. Consultants will work with licensees and/or permit holders to understand applicable rules and laws to stay in compliance to avoid potential enforcement action, such as fines or other consequences. As needed, consultants will issue verbal warnings or Notices to Correct (NTC).

Liquor Compliance Consultants plan, prioritize, develop, and implement education and community outreach activities that support the liquor industry. Duties may include planning and/or facilitating workshops for industry members, assisting in the development of educational/outreach materials, reviewing monthly and annual tax reports for in-state liquor licensees, and assisting in developing policies and procedures.

Additional duties include: 
Stakeholder outreach
Field consultation services
Final inspections
Announced and unannounced premises checks
Responsible Vendor Program (RVP) premises checks
Developing written reports
Conducting follow-up visits
Responsible liquor sales training
Ensuring licensees qualify for the RVP
Identifying liquor licensed locations that have not applied to RVP and providing education on how to enroll

The Consultants will be assigned to geographic areas for statewide coverage, as well as facilitate consistency and help build strong working relationships with the liquor industry. Compliance Consultants will work with and in cooperation with enforcement staff and licensing staff to facilitate outreach programs and essential licensing functions.

This position is a resource to all stakeholders as a contact on all educational/outreach materials. Stay tuned for more information about your assigned consultant!

From May 6th-8th WWI’s Executive Director Josh McDonald, Vice President of our Board of Directors and co-owner of Fortuity Cellars Emily Fergestrom, and COO of L’Ecole No 41 Ryan Pennington joined WineAmerica and 45 other wine-producing states for our annual trip to Washington D.C. to meet with our WA Congressional delegation, House and Senate committees’ staff and leadership, and federal agencies such as the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) that make decisions and have regulatory authority over the wine industry. Our WA wine group grew in size and strength with several members of the WA Winegrowers Association also flying in to help us speak as one united front for the WA wine industry.

Pictured: Congressman Kilmer and Newhouse meet with Washington wine advocates from WWI, Winegrowers, and more.

For our three days in D.C. we spent a majority of the time lobbying our entire Congressional delegation, TTB, and major players in Congress on several federal issues we are helping lead on for WA wine such as The Farm Bill (MAP funding, research funding, specialty crop block grants, and more), nutritional labeling, ingredient labeling, USPS wine shipping, USDA guidelines on safe levels of alcohol consumption, and more. We were the only state to meet with all 12 of our delegation including face-to-face meetings with both our powerful U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray. We are hopeful our advocacy efforts made a meaningful difference in getting positive outcomes on all of these critical issues for the WA wine industry!

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) is announcing two virtual listening sessions to receive input from the public on nutritional labeling of wine, distilled spirits, and malt beverages to disclose per-serving alcohol and nutritional information, major food allergens, and/or ingredients. These listening sessions are intended to engage the public, including consumers, public health stakeholders, and industry members of all sizes, and facilitate the public’s ability to provide input to inform rulemaking.

Virtual listening sessions will be held on the following days:

·  February 28, 2024, 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. PST (register for February 28 session)

·  February 29, 2024, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. PST (register for February 29 session)

The deadline to register to virtually attend either session is noon EST, February 27, 2024. When registering, participants may indicate whether they wish to speak at one of the sessions. Requests to speak during one of the listening sessions must be submitted by noon EST, on February 26, 2024. If all registered speakers have had an opportunity to speak, the session may conclude early.

Written comments may be submitted electronically or via postal mail and must be submitted or postmarked by 11:59 p.m. EST, March 29, 2024, using the instructions provided in Notice No. 232. To view all documents and comments related to this notice, see Docket No. TTB-2024-0002 at Regulations.gov.  

To facilitate input from the public, TTB has developed a list of questions. TTB encourages commenters to explain the rationale behind their comments and to include any available supporting data and other information, as appropriate.

Visit TTB.gov for additional details about the listening sessions.