In early summer, I sent a ‘tweet’ that noted Virginia as the 5th largest wine (grape) producing state. This 140-character message resulted in many back and forth emails with a friend in Texas who claimed that Texas, not Virginia, is the 5th largest wine (grape) producing state. Interestingly, another wine friend from Michigan makes the same claim for his home state. As it turns out Pennsylvania also claims to be the 5th largest producing state. Though the top four wine producing states – California, Washington, New York, Oregon – are rarely the subject of debate, the 5th spot seems to be a point of contention.
Given my genius tendencies, I feel confident that I’m right about Virginia being the 5th largest wine grape producing state. For clarification, I contacted the best source of Virginia wine information – the Virginia Wine Board.
As it turns out, the confusion from my friends in Texas, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and even New Jersey comes from the way the US Department of Agriculture National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS) tracks grape statistics. NASS calculates state production statistics based on total grape production, which includes table grapes. States like Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania produce a significant amount of table grapes for juices and jellies.
So, in terms of ‘wine grape production‘ Virginia is the 5th largest wine producing state in the US.
What say you?
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The issue is in the numbers. States can be ranked #5 based on several different numbers:
For example, Texas is number 5 based on wine production but something like 8 to 10 based on grape production. This ranking is easy to verify as the Feds keep good records on this stuff.
I can’t remember the exact numbers for PA, but they have the opposite situation, they grow lots of grapes (table grapes more than wine grapes) but don’t make that much wine.
Another parameter that can be used is the number of wineries. This is a moving target and a variable target and I believe that this is where the confusion regarding VA and TX. Sometimes defunct wineries are included in the count and sometimes the recreational wineries like “water to wine” and d’Vine Wine are included and sometimes not.
Hi Russ: Thanks for stopping by to comment – I appreciate your insights. Indeed you are correct, the issue is in the ‘numbers.’ We can make statistics deliver any message we want. I’ve read through the VA, PA, and TX stats and all seem to tell a different story – even the NASS numbers are confusing. I’m going to keep digging for ‘the’ definitive (i.e. – clear) statistical source and will post a recap with link to that data.
I went to WineAmerica.org and found some statistics from 2008-2009. Russ is correct that a lot depends on exactly what list we are talking about. The list I found shows a ranking of states by the gallons of wine produced.
Sorry, Frank and Russ, but on this list %5 goes to Florida, with just under 1.8 million gallons. Virginia is #10 with over 1.1 million and my home state of Texas is #17, with only 622,427 gallons.
#6 New Jersey, #7 Kentucky, #8 Missouri and #9 North Carolina follow.
By the way, I absolutely loved the Thomas Jefferson series! Some of the most interesting – and best researched – wine blogging I’ve seen. Props.
Hi Randy – thanks for your thoughts on this subject. I appreciate your comments on the Thomas Jefferson series – definitely one of the most interesting wine topics I’ve ever explored.
Florida? Where in the world did Florida come from? 🙂 In terms of ‘grape’ wine I didn’t think Florida ranked anywhere near the top 10. I’ve had blueberry wine from FL, but thats about it. I need to lodge a protest on that Florida statistic… 🙂 Cheers!
I just checked the Texsa Wine & Grape Growers assoc. site and they say TX has 200 wineries, but list 154 in their alphabetical listing. GoTexasWine.org lists 129 wineries on their site. Texas also lists that they have 3,400 acres of wine grapes. Virginiawine.org lists 165 wineries, but we have over 190 licensees. We don’t count second or third tasting rooms and they were listed separately on the TX sites. VA has around 3,000 acres of wine grapes but this figure is two years old. We’ll be updating it this year. Acreage of wine grapes is a figure that I watch closely, becuase if wine production outpaces planted wine grape acreage that is a big question mark for me.
I would say Texas and Virginia are nose to nose with their respective wine production and depending on how you read the stats on any given day you might get a different reading. I’ll check the wine production figures with TTB on another day. But I do know that any other state other than TX or VA is kidding themselves if they are claiming to be 5th in wine production.
Hi Annette: Thanks for the updated information from the Texas Wine & Grape Growers Association. This is certainly and interesting and debatable subject. I agree that Texas and Virginia are neck-in-neck in terms of being ‘#5 in wine production.’ As a life long Virginian I am obligated to go with Virginia as the holder of the #5 spot.
I look forward to hearing back from you on the TTB stats. It’s beautiful day out here in Virginia – time to get out and enjoy it.
It’s even more complicated. In Texas wineries make wine from grapes grown in the state (which is probably what Wine America cites) and also from grapes trucked in from all points of the compass including WA, OR, AZ, NM, but mostly CA (Lodi and Temecula). It is produced with For Sale in Texas Only on the label or under American Appellation.
But there is hope. This year was the best vintage in terms of both quantity and quality that anybody can remember in Texas. It has left many wineries scrambling for tank space and some growers looking for commercial deep freezers to preserve their grapes until tank space becomes available. It will be interesting to see how the state rankings shake out once these wines hit the marketplace.
Any bets?
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Interesting discussions. Are wineries/vineyard owners required to annually report their acreage of planted veriatals to the “wine board”? It seems to me that would be the most accurate way in determining wine /grape production in Virginia. cheers The Grumpy Nortonian
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