The Washington Wine Institute serves as the political lobbying arm for the state wine industry, and works closely with the Washington Wine Commission and the Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers. In the past year, the institute secured: $300,000 from state funds for a new national branding campaign launched by the Wine Commission; $2.25 million in state construction funds for the Walter Clore Wine and Culinary Center in Prosser; and $1 million for a Port of Walla Walla wine incubator project. The institute also helped defeat an increase in wine taxes, an area eyed by some legislators as a way […]