By Jim Trezise, President of WineAmerica
The National Association of American Wineries™
Winery Ledger
Taxes PAID
Mortgage PAID
Utilities PAID
Salaries PAID
Tasting Room Supplies PAID
Bottles PAID
Closures PAID
Shipping Containers PAID
Barrels ORDERED
Tanks ORDERED
Associations
When times get tough—and even when they’re not—trade associations are often the last bills to be paid—or not paid— even though they’re as vital to wineries’ success as many expenses ahead of them.
That’s because trade associations do invisible work. Vital, but invisible.
Big Bucks
When you pay your federal excise taxes, do you remember that every year since 2018 you are saving thousands of dollars in federal excise taxes due to the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act?
Examples: A 10,000-gallon winery saves $10,000 annually, and the investment (“dues”) in WineAmerica is just $500 (1/20th of the savings). For a $100,000-gallon winery, savings are
$93,000 and the investment is $3,800. For a 300,000 gallon winery, the numbers are $210,950 in savings and just $5,800 to protect your future..
Multiply those various savings by 9 and you’ll have the total excise tax savings since the law went into effect on January 1, 2018.
You can thank WineAmerica.
Use this chart to see your savings.
Diversity is our Strength. Unity is our Power.
WineAmerica is The National Association of American Wineries ™, headquartered in Washington, DC.
From a tiny regional group created as the Association of American Vintners in 1978 in Watkins Glen, NY, it has grown to represent wineries, associations, and suppliers from 40 states. Our mission is to encourage the dynamic growth of American wineries through the advancement of sound public policy.
WineAmerica could not have achieved these tangible benefits alone. We regularly collaborate with our partners at Wine Institute, Beer Institute, the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, and other groups. That collaboration created your tax savings and other benefits that you also take for granted.
Every wine, beer, and spirits producer should be a member of these organizations. But too few are.
Why is that so? Because there are other bills, short attention spans, and the very cynical view that we’ll just let others pay for the benefits we receive.
Let’s move on from WineAmerica to the other associations that wineries should support.
The Smart Money
There’s a Finger Lakes winery which is a member of New York Farm Bureau, the New York Wine Policy Institute, the Seneca Lake Wine Trail, the Finger Lakes Wine Alliance, the New York Wine & Grape Foundation, and WineAmerica. Six different associations!
Is that winery rich? No, just smart. And devoted to the regional, state and national wine communities.
These organizations all have different, vital functions. NYFB focuses on state-level agricultural policy. NYWPI zeroes in on wine-related issues; the SLWA brings tourists to the region; the FLWA promotes FLX wines in key urban markets; NYWGF supports research and promotes all New York wines, including those from the Finger Lakes; and WineAmerica deals with federal public policy to protect and enhance the business climate for wine.
Why not just have one big organization? It will never happen, and shouldn’t. There’s far more power in several associations collaborating, which they already do.
Another great example is the State and Regional Associations Advisory Council (SRAAC) of WineAmerica, which includes 35 groups from 25 states. It’s a powerful national grassroots network that can be mobilized into immediate action by a quick email.
The Power of Tiny
There is only one large winery association in America: Wine Institute, founded in 1934 right after Repeal to represent California wineries exclusively. While technically a state association, it has national and international reach, and a collaborative spirit, so Wine Institute’s work has long benefited every other wine state as well—all 49 of them.
Most other state and regional associations are tiny, from 1 to 3 employees is typical. In 2025, there were 75,655 jobs in wineries, and 902 in associations—or 0.01% of winery employment. Winery employees received $5.7 billion in wages compared with $102 million for association employees (0.01% again).
The average trade association has fewer employees than the tiniest wineries.
The source of their power is collaboration—bringing the wine community together for a common purpose. At WineAmerica there are just two of us: myself and Michael Kaiser, Executive Director, who coordinates our government affairs function. But we can rally winery and association representatives from 40 states to contact 80 U.S. Senators about our public policy concerns.
That’s the power of tiny..
Reset Your Priorities
Times are tough. Money is tight. Now more than ever is when you need trade associations—at regional, state, and national levels, and for marketing, research and promotion. They are vital sources of information, action, and tangible benefits.
Pay your mortgage, employees and taxes, of course, but move “Associations” way up on your list of bills.
And don’t think of it as “dues” (an ugly, punitive word), but as a smart investment in your future. Cheers!
Jim Trezise has been in the American wine industry for 44 years. He has been President of WineAmerica since 2017, and prior to that served on its Board for 20 years. He created and ran the New York Wine & Grape Foundation for 32 years, has served on Boards of several national and international organizations, judges in wine competitions, and has received several national awards and accolades for his contributions to the American wine industry. He lives and works on Keuka Lake in New York’s Finger Lakes wine region.
