It seems that just about every month a report is published telling of a new study that links wine to improving people’s health.

Now a report has been released that says wine is good for the health of the economy, too.

Wine is California’s No. 1 finished agricultural product, and last year the California wine industry contributed $51.8 billion to the state’s economy. The national economy was also lifted to the tune of $103 billion, and most other states benefited from California wine, as well.

The report was compiled by MKF Research LLC, of St. Helena, and was commissioned by the Wine Institute and the California Association of Winegrowers.

Barbara Insel, managing director of MKF Research, said the results are particularly pleasing because the industry has faced some severe challenges — not the least of which was a crowded wine market. She said there are an estimated 30,000 bar codes for wines available, and most stores maintain a maximum of 1,400.

The number of imported wines continues to rise and imports now account for 27 percent of the total market in the U.S., and the increasingly high quality of wines from other states, notably Washington and Oregon, means additional competition.

The consolidation of distributors and retailers adds to the competitive woes, there’s a shortage of trained labor and there’s a limited amount of research resources — only $15 million according to Insel.

Nonetheless, the industry continued its rapid growth and solidified its importance as a major force in the state’s and nation’s economy.

In the report, MKF Research said, “Much like dropping a rock into a pond, the wine industry has ripple effects on California’s economy,” and said the study used the Impact Analysis for Planning (IMPLAN) economic model in determining direct, indirect and induced effects of the industry. Direct effects include employment and spending by wineries, vineyards and immediately allied industries; indirect effects involve such things as purchase of gasoline by wineries and custodial services by bottle manufacturers; induced effects are brought about by the workers spending their incomes from their wine-related jobs.

In arriving at the direct effects, MKF Research used data assembled from more than two dozen sources and included everything connected to the wine industry related to growing grapes and producing wine. This involved all vineyard and winery labor, along with labor in all allied industries, such as shipping and selling, and included all supplies, such as corks, capsules, labels and boxes. Also included were taxes paid at local, state and national levels, revenue generated by tourism and contributions to charitable organizations.

In short, anything and everything that went into wine from the ground to the glass.

This was the third such report issued by MKF research. The first, issued in 2000 using statistics from 1998, showed California’s economy was impacted by the wine industry to the tune of $33 billion, and another issued in 2004 covering data for 2002 indicated the state benefited by $45.4 billion.

Insel said the primary factor in the economic impact is labor — jobs in winegrape growing and wine production, in suppliers to those elements of the industry, the selling and re-selling of the resulting wine and the jobs created when these workers spend their wages.

Wages from 309,000 jobs overall accounted for just about 25 percent of the $51.8 billion in California. This is up by 37 percent over the 207,550 jobs in 2002. Wages for these workers nearly doubled to $10.1 billion.

Insel said the employment information this year is better than that previously gained because it includes additional suppliers and more precise data on some of the allied industries, and also includes better data on restaurant and retail employment resulting from sales of California wine.

‘A small community’

Insel called the wine industry “a small community of primarily family businesses,” consisting of 4,600 growers farming 477,000 acres and 2,275 wineries.

Since the last report, the number of growers declined slightly — by 4 percent — but the number of bonded wineries jumped by 33 percent.

The industry produced 2.7 billion 750 ml bottles (225 million cases), and the retail value of that wine is $16.5 billion, but this figure does not include exports, nor does it include winery direct sales to consumers.

Last year, the tourism industry associated with the wine industry was responsible for nearly $3 billion, a 52 percent increase since 2002, and the number of visitors, 19.7 million, was up by a third.

“Wineries are remarkable magnets for tourism,” the report said. “America’s new ‘experiential consumer’ is particularly attracted to the personal connection, artisinal atmosphere, rural environment and beauty of California’s wineries and vineyards.”

It indicated that the Napa Convention and Visitors Bureau found that 77 percent of the county’s tourists visited wineries, and many of them spent time and money in hotels and restaurants and in shopping.

A phrase used often these days is “paying a fair share of taxes.” When taking into consideration all sales, excises, income, payroll and property taxes, along with all other taxes and fees, wineries and wine-related business paid more than $2.9 billion in 2004. Add to that the amount paid in federal taxes, and the total tax bill for the industry rises to nearly $4.8 billion.

The wine industry has long been noted for its generosity to charitable organizations. In 2004 the industry donated about $115 million to a wide variety of beneficiaries, and this does not include individual or in-kind contributions. This figure was up substantially from the previous report — in 2002 contributions totaled $73 million.

Because California accounts for about 90 percent of all wine produced in the United States and 95 percent of all wines exported, and nearly three-quarters of the state’s wines are sold in other states, California wine generates an impact on the economies of the other 49 states and the nation, as well.

A large chunk of the $103 billion impact nationally comes from jobs — 759,000 of them were attributed to California wine, with total wages at $20.9 billion.

MKF research’s report indicates that half of the total national impact is actually produced beyond California’s borders, primarily through distributor, restaurant and retail store wine sales, which totaled nearly $11 billion. Wages for distributor personnel and wine specific wages in restaurants and retail stores added more than $3.3 billion. More than 450,000 people were employed in the other 49 states as a result of California wine.

While the report contained numerous numbers and statistics, one thing remains clear — California wine continues to pay a vital role in the health of the economies of California, the other 49 states.