By Tom Davidson
SHARON — Beyond the acres of succulent arbors it takes to make Pennsylvania grapes into vintage wine, it takes a “mountain of paperwork” to legally market homegrown wine in the commonwealth, a local vintner says.
“It’s completely regulated,” said Gary Shilling of Wilhelm Winery, located just north of Lake Wilhelm.
The industry, which contributes more than $600 million to the state’s economy –– according to numbers compiled by the Pennsylvania Winery Association –– is regulated by both the state Department of Agriculture and the Liquor Control Board.
Pennsylvania is the fifth-largest wine grape producer in the nation and ranks eighth in wine output, with about 340,000 cases produced in 2005, according to a study by the Pennsylvania Wine Marketing and Research Board.
The state boasts 150 wine grape growers and more than 100 wineries, many of them in northwestern Pennsylvania along the shores of Lake Erie and points south, including Wilhelm Winery in northern Mercer County, Conneaut Cellars in Crawford County and Volant Mills Winery in Lawrence County.
“It’s just a matter of filling out all of the forms,” Shilling said. “It’s a mountain of paperwork.”
Clearing these hurdles takes about a year, said Shilling, whose winery has been operating for eight years.
Compared to vintners elsewhere, commercial winemaking in Pennsylvania is a young industry, dating back three decades when the state Farm Winery Bill was passed in the 1970s.
This law allowed for the establishment of wineries and allowed wine producers to sell and market their products at the site of their operations and at limited sales locations close to the winery.
Wine production is capped at 200,000 gallons annually, according to the law.
Grapes must be grown at vineyards within 350 miles of each winery and must pass inspections by the state Department of Agriculture and the state Department of Health.
“They also come in and check us,” Shilling said of the LCB, to make sure things are operating above-board. “You don’t know (when) they are going to do that.”
In addition to selling from the winery, they can sell at wine festivals and to restaurants and each may have up to five retail outlets that also must be licensed.
“I just sell on-site now,” Shilling said.
Wilhelm Wineries is the first local winery to try to sell at another location, a Hermitage grocery store, although both Shilling and the store’s owner declined to comment about this move because it has yet to garner LCB approval.
Wineries are also allowed to ship to other states that allow it, but Shilling said the regulations governing these shipments change often.
Winemakers must also pay 15 cents a gallon each year to the state Wine Marketing and Ressearch Program administered by the Department of Agriculture.
Despite the regulations, Shilling said his business has been successful, though research done by Pennsylvania State University’s College of Agricultural Sciences revealed 10 years ago that there is plenty of room for growth in the industry.
Although local growers wouldn’t comment on whether the regulations governing the industry should be changed, the 1997 Penn State study found that more than 60 percent of respondents agreed that the state’s laws should be changed to allow wine sales in more places.
With about 14,000 acres of grapes, Pennsylvania ranks fourth nationally in the amount of grapes grown (including juice grapes).
The state also ranks eighth in the production of wine, according to the Pennsylvania Winery Association.
