Whining Over California Wine

Superficially it looks like a war between Tobacco Road and the Wine Country. Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) has been attacking the U.S. wine industry all year, most recently assaulting a modest Agriculture Department program supporting the export of American wines--notably California vintages. The subsidy, reduced considerably from those of previous years, was budgeted at about $3.5 million. Twenty-five wineries would get $23,000 on average, which must be matched by their own funds, to promote their wines abroad. The San Francisco-based Wine Institute would get $3 million for marketing programs in Europe, Asia and Canada.

Raising the flag of alcohol abuse, Thurmond argued that tobacco, a product of the Carolinas, gets no export subsidy, so neither should wine. He also pointed to the success of U.S. wine exports, $537 million last year.

Thurmond first targeted the wine industry when it received Treasury Department permission to carry labels telling consumers how to get information on medical findings about the health benefits of wine. The senator then sought to triple the excise taxes on wine, and last week he championed a measure to regulate wine sales over the Internet.

That done, Thurmond won deletion of the wine subsidy from the Agriculture Department appropriations bill. A Senate-House conference committee should restore the subsidy when it meets in September to negotiate a compromise farm bill.

Whatever triggered Thurmond’s vendetta, his position is misguided. As long as other nations maintain massive trade barriers against American wine, the Clinton administration properly should support this modest aid for U.S. exports.