Texas Wine and Grape Growers Association, Inc. (TWGGA)
The Texas Wine & Grape Growers Association (TWGGA) is an active force in both state and federal legislation and regulation in order to advocate for you and your business. To better support you, TWGGA is proud to announce the official launch of the Texas Wine & Grape Growers PAC. This dynamic and forward-thinking political action committee is committed to supporting the industry by contributing to candidates and office holders who encourage the growth of the Texas wine industry.
Company details
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- Business Type:
- Professional association
- Industry Type:
- Agriculture - Winemaking
- Market Focus:
- Locally (one state or province)
About us
The organization who links and promotes the Texas wine and grape industry.
You can help support the Association by using the Portejas name and creating name recognition “For Texas” in your region. It’s a great opportunity to promote a product that is uniquely Texas, showcases your great wine, and helps TWGGA at the same time.
The Texas Wine & Grape Growers Association’s mission is to promote the production and appreciation of premium grapes and fine wines from Texas and to represent a unified state industry with common marketing, governmental, and educational goals.
(1) The alcohol industry is heavily regulated. The Texas wine industry exists at the whim of the Texas legislature. As with all alcohol businesses, everything that has been allowed by the law can be altered or removed. That includes all your privileges, rights, and abilities.
Every 2 years, the Texas legislature meets for 140 days to discuss and decide every aspect of our governmental lives—from taxes to education and healthcare, to agriculture restrictions, and of course, to alcohol regulations. In most cases, the people making decisions know very little to nothing about your business. Let’s support those who know you.
(2) The alcohol industry is competitive. You are not only competing with national brands, but also high-quality locally produced products, beer, distilled spirits, cider, and more. They are all competing for your customers’ attention and money. In many cases, every dollar spent on locally produced alcohol products means consumers are not spending money through the more traditional alcohol industry businesses.
That means package stores, liquor distributors, and beer wholesalers are losing money to your business. They will loudly fight these losses any way they can, including through legislation that negatively impacts Texas wines. Let’s support those who will cut through the noise and give a voice to Texas wineries and vineyards.
(3) The Texas wine industry is growing. The days of our industry flying below the radar are gone. The Texas wine and grape-growing industry is a formidable force in the Lone Star State. It contributes more than $20.35 billion of economic value to the State of Texas (according to the 2022 National Economic Impact Study of the Wine Industry by John Dunham & Associates).
Our industry growth has been extraordinary, and legislators and other industry segments have taken notice. Each legislative session bills are introduced to change our industry (and not always in a good way). To combat this, we must become more legislatively active. Let’s support those who want to see us thrive.
Texas Wine Facts
Texas is the site of the first vineyard established in North America by Franciscan priests circa 1662. As European settlers followed the development of mission outposts, they brought more grapevine cuttings, further developing the industry through the 1800s. Today, Texas has more than 4,000 acres of producing vineyard farmland.
Texas Wine Features
- Table Wine: Still wine that has less than 14% alcohol.
- Fortified Wine: A wine to which alcohol has been added, most typically brandy.
- Dessert Wine: Wines that are 14% alcohol or higher, typically sweet, served with dessert, and considered a sipping drink.
- Sparkling Wine: Wine with significant levels of carbon dioxide, making it bubbly. The carbon dioxide results from a second fermentation either in the traditional French method (méthode champenoise) in the bottle or in large tanks.
Texas Wine and Winegrape Industry Profile
- Contributes more than $20.35 billion of economic value to the State of Texas (according to the 2022 Texas Economic Impact Study Packet on American Wine Industry prepared by John Dunham & Associates).
- 141,235 full-time jobs paying $6.9 billion in wages.
- 2.02 million tourist visits to Texas wineries and $685.86 million in annual tourism expenditures.
- 443 wine producers and 1,474 acres of vineyards.
- Visit the WineAmerica website for U.S. study and state-by-state statistics.