Agribusiness vs. Agriculture

There’s a book that every Corporate CEO should read: “Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered”  by E. F. Schumacher.  Especially the Top Brass of the four leading wine corporations that rule the wine industry. 

Probably the most powerful “saving grace” that the Umpqua Valley AVA possesses is that ALL our wineries are family owned.  And that’s the way it should be.  Once the corporations start messing with our wine we’ll be on our way to yet another homogenized wine region, where 90% of the wineries are owned by the “Big Four”.

I’ll give you a couple of examples of the corporations at work.  Most of you have heard of Fetzer wine.  Once a family operation in Mendocino County, CA, it was bought by Brown-Forman the makers of Jack Daniels.  Fetzer went from agriculture to agribusiness, producing millions of cases of wine.  Unfortunately, in the process, Fetzer lost its soul.  I was working at Fetzer in 2006 when the “suits” back East decided to close the Hospitality Center (the public face of Fetzer) and concentrate on the marketing side of the biz.  Dozens of loyal locals lost their jobs with the flick of the “line-item” pen.  You see. it’s not about people, it’s all about profit.

Currently there is a bill before Congress (HR 5034) that would force our local wineries to ship wine through the Corporate distribution system, eliminating direct shipping to their loyal fans.  As very few of our wineries are of any interest to the large distributors, this would basically put them out of business. 

Take a minute to call or write your congressperson and let them know you oppose this bill.  Keep the Umpqua Valley AVA as an agricultural wine region.