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July 2018 WINES&VINES 59 WINE EAST WINE INDUSTRY NEWS H arrisburg, Pa.—The grape and wine industry on both sides of the country received a $2.4 million boost in funds during May. Gov. Tom Wolf announced on May 16 that the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) awarded funds totaling $999,989 to seven grant projects that will develop and promote the state's wine industry. Five days later, Tony Stephen, chairman of the American Vineyard Foundation (AVF), reported that the founda- tion is providing $1,387,400 in new funding for 24 viticulture and enology research projects in California, Oregon and at the USDA Agri- cultural Research Station (USDA-ARS). The Pennsylvania Wine Association (PWA), will receive the largest grant, $519,500, from the PLCB. The organization plans to use the funds for its Pennsylvania Wine Lands state- wide marketing and promotion program, ex- pansion of the Pennsylvania Wine Month promotion in October 2018, and sustained support of a cooperative wine trails grant pro- gram representing more than 100 wineries. The balance of the grants will go to four re- search projects at Pennsylvania State Univer- sity, with smaller amounts supporting the 2018 ASEV-ES conference in King of Prussia, Pa. in July and a joint project with Cornell University. The American Vineyard Foundation, based in Napa, Calif., solicits voluntary contributions to support ongoing as well as new high prior- ity research projects to help the grape and wine industry. The foundation's members are surveyed periodically to determine the issues that are most in need of research and then are asked to make donations to fund research projects. A total of six universities or other wine or- ganizations received funding for 2018-2019. The University of California, Davis, received 12 grants totaling $722,600; Oregon State University was funded for six grants with $398,900; and the USDA-ARS received three grants totaling $139,900. Three other institu- tions each received a grant: the Lodi-Wood- bridge Winegrape Commission ($21,800), the University of California, Berkeley ($61,900), and the University of California Cooperative Extension ($42,300). —Linda Jones McKee Millions for Vineyard and Wine Research Promote your wines to leading Zinfandel enthusiasts and extend your winery's relationship in the market. Join Us! We are champions of Zinfandel— America's Heritage Wine Become part of our proud legacy zinfandel.org • 530-274-4900 Zinfandel Advocates & Producers is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. ZAP is dedicated to advancing public knowledge of and appreciation for American Zinfandel and its unique place in our culture and history. You know how good your Zinfandel is... Natural Corks Champagne Corks Twinline Corks Bartops VISION Synthetic Corks G-Cap® Screw Caps Sales Representatives: Chris & Liz Stamp info@lakewoodcork.com lakewoodcork.com 4024 State Route 14 Watkins Glen, NY 14891 607-535-9252 607-535-6656 Fax PIONEER INNOVATOR PARTNER The next step occurred on May 30 when the TTB issued Industry Circular Number 2018 - 3. It advised wineries, breweries and distill- eries that they may submit requests to use al- ternate premises. The circular provided guidelines to proprietors "who wish to 'alter- nate' their premises in a way that varies from TTB requirements for the purpose of storing tax-determined and non-tax-determined prod- ucts in a more flexible or efficient manner." Those guidelines suggest, for example, that the proprietor should have a "good cause basis to use the alternate method or procedure" and that TTB will review the proprietor's compli- ance history. Additional points address such issues as record keeping and inventory discrep- ancies, amendments to the information associ- ated with a permit, and modification or rescission of the permit by TTB. Michael Kaiser, vice-president of Wine- America, the National Association of Ameri- can Wineries located in Washington, D.C., stated, "While the TTB amendment is very encouraging and a big relief, ultimately a formal change in the legislation would be far preferable. In addition, currently the tax re- ductions are scheduled to end on Dec. 31, 2019, and WineAmerica will seek to make them permanent." —Linda Jones McKee