Washington State Wine

What Washington State Wine does

The Washington State Wine Commission is a state government agency — quasi-governmental body established under Washington law and operating under the authority of the Washington State Department of Agriculture — that serves as the statutory industry representative for Washington's licensed wineries and wine grape growers. It is headquartered at 1201 Western Avenue, Suite 450, in Seattle, WA, with an 11–50 employee footprint supporting a statewide constituency of approximately 970 wineries operating across 58,000 acres. Its mandate spans industry promotion, marketing, research funding, sustainability certification, and international market development for Washington-grown wines (the underlying industry is valued at more than $6 billion).

Its core offerings are programmatic rather than commercial products. The flagship digital property is the Map My WA Wine mobile app (iOS and Android), which indexes 1,000+ wineries, tasting rooms, and vineyards for wine touring discovery and is paired with the WA Wine Directory and wine-touring region content on washingtonwine.org. Physical and research assets center on the Ste. Michelle Wine Estates WSU Wine Science Center — a $23 million, 40,000-square-foot facility at Washington State University's Tri-Cities campus in Richland — operated through its flagship partnership with WSU. The commission also runs the Sustainable WA sustainability certification (recently paired with Salmon-Safe for dual vineyard certification), the WAVE viticulture/enology seminar series co-sponsored with WSU, signature events including Taste Washington, the Auction of Washington Wines, and WA Wine Month, the Sommlight conversation series hosted by Marketing Director David Flaherty, the Breaking Ground farmer ambassador program, and the Field Blends cross-regional trade collaboration.

The commission's revenue model is statutory rather than transactional. It is funded by mandatory assessments on every wine grape grower and winery in the state, including a legislatively appropriated 1/4 cent per liter of all wine sold in Washington routed to WSU for viticulture, enology, and agricultural economics research. Approximately 20% of the commission's annual budget — more than $1 million annually since 2017 — is dedicated to grape and wine research, with the balance supporting marketing, events, and international programs. It does not sell products directly to consumers; pricing models are not applicable. The go-to-market motion is event-driven (Taste Washington, Auction of Washington Wines, WA Wine Month) and partnership-driven (WSU for research and education; Salmon-Safe for certification; Ste. Michelle Wine Estates as naming partner on the Wine Science Center).

Name

Washington State Wine

Legal name

Washington State Wine Commission

Website

https://washingtonwine.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1950

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Wine Industry Association and Promotion

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Wine Tastings & Vineyard/Winery Tours (THAJAGAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Vineyard Certification & Sustainability Programs (Organic, Biodynamic, Regenerative, GAP) (AFAGAJAL)

Keywords

• Wine industry association
• Viticulture research programs
• Wine tourism promotion
• Sustainability certification
• Wine marketing events

Headquarters

HQ city

Seattle

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Operations

Revenue model

1. Industry Assessments: Washington's wine research program is funded by all wine grape growers and wineries in the state through grower and winery assessments. Washington State legislation appropriated funding of 1/4 cent per liter of all wine sold in the state to WSU for research programs.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Washington State Wine Commission is a state government agency that promotes and supports the Washington wine industry through marketing campaigns, signature events, viticulture and enology research funding, sustainability certification (Sustainable WA), international marketing, and consumer-facing wine tourism tools such as the Map My WA Wine mobile application. It represents licensed wineries and grape growers, funded by industry assessments rather than direct product sales.

Product overview

Washington State Wine Commission operates as a state-level wine industry promotional organization rather than a technology product company. Its primary digital product is the Map My WA Wine mobile application (iOS/Android), which serves as a wine touring guide. The organization also manages various programs including WA Wine Month, Taste Washington, Auction of Washington Wines, Sustainable WA, Breaking Ground farmer ambassador program, Sommlight podcast series, and WAVE (Washington Advancements in Viticulture and Enology) seminars. The Wine Science Center represents a physical research facility rather than a digital product offering.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Map My WA Wine Mobile App

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• Washington State University (WSU)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2015Washington's wine industry partnered with WSU to build the Ste. Michelle Wine Estates WSU Wine Science Center at the WSU Tri-Cities campus in Richland. The industry invested $9.4 million in the $23 million facility. WSU provides viticulture and enology education and research, with a new V&E department launched in January 2023.
• Salmon-SafecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSustainable WA partnered with Salmon-Safe, a leading U.S. regional eco-label focused on watershed protection, to offer dual vineyard certification for Washington winegrowers.
• Ste. Michelle Wine EstatesflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor naming partner for the WSU Wine Science Center. Ste. Michelle Wine Estates contributed to the $23 million Wine Science Center investment.
• Washington State Department of AgriculturecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Research Committee is composed of Washington State Wine Board members appointed by the Director of the Washington State Department of Agriculture, with fiduciary oversight of the industry's research program.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Oregon Wine Board: State-level wine commission for Oregon, funded by industry assessments to promote Oregon wine, fund viticulture/enology research, and support wine tourism. Operates a near-identical mandate to Washington State Wine in an adjacent Pacific Northwest region.
• Wine Institute: California's primary wine trade association, representing roughly 1,000 wineries and affiliated businesses. Shares the same industry-association role — promotion, research advocacy, international marketing, and policy representation — as Washington State Wine, but at a much larger scale.
• Wine America: National trade association representing the U.S. wine industry across all 50 states. Comparable function as an industry-wide advocacy and promotion body, with overlapping scope on research funding, sustainability, and federal policy work.
• New York Wine & Grape Foundation: New York state agency supporting the grape and wine industry through research, marketing, and education programs. Mirrors Washington State Wine's mandate and assessment-funded model in a different climate region.
• Virginia Wine Board: State-level marketing and research body for Virginia wineries. Performs the same promotional, research, and tourism-driving role as Washington State Wine, with analogous funding from industry assessments.
• Texas Wine & Grape Growers Association: Statewide industry association representing Texas wineries and growers. Shares Washington State Wine's promotional, educational, and policy-advocacy mandate, with analogous funding and programmatic structure.

Regional players

• Napa Valley Vintners: Trade association for Napa Valley wineries focused on regional promotion, education, and appellation advocacy. Highly comparable in function but operates at a smaller regional scale and within a globally recognized premium appellation.
• Walla Walla Valley Wine Alliance: Regional wine alliance for the Walla Walla Valley AVA, which is partly within Washington. Directly comparable regional marketing and tourism-promotion body, though narrower in geographic scope than Washington State Wine.
• Finger Lakes Wine Alliance: Regional wine promotion alliance for New York's Finger Lakes AVA. Performs a similar tourism and marketing role as Washington State Wine, but at a sub-state regional level rather than statewide.

Broad incumbents

• Ste. Michelle Wine Estates: Washington state's largest and most iconic winery and the naming partner of the WSU Wine Science Center. Comparable in that it operates entirely within the Washington wine ecosystem and contributes to industry research funding, but as a commercial producer rather than a trade body.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/wa_state_wine
• Facebookfacebook.com/WashingtonStateWine
• Instagraminstagram.com/wa_state_wine/?hl=en
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/washington-state-wine-commission

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Washington State Wine