The Progressive Case for Wine
Wine is the natural choice for those who cultivate progressive values and politics
There is a progressive case for choosing wine over other alcoholic beverages and this is despite the fact that wine has long been known as the beverage of moderation. For those with a progressive political bent and prefer to put their palate where their politics are, wine ought to be their first choice.
While it is difficult to nail down what the diverse progressive movement in America stands for, it can be said with some confidence that generally today’s progressives support, fight for and promote economic, social ad environmental justice. These principles of social and global citizenship mesh perfectly with wine.
Perhaps the most obvious connection between wine and progressive politics is the issue of climate change. Few industries stand to be impacted more by the threat of climate change than wine. For this reason, the wine industry has fought its conservative tendencies natural to an agricultural pursuit and worked hard to institute sustainable farming and winemaking efforts. Organic grape farming has exploded over the past two decades, making the cultivation of grapes less impactful on the planet and local communities.
What was once leaned into by the wine industry as “green initiatives” and is today known as “sustainability”, has led to less use of water resources, smaller carbon footprints, and numerous efforts to reward sustainable efforts in the vineyard and in the winery. Progressives who believe their product choices make a difference should embrace wine in the same way the wine industry has actively embraced sustainable farming and winemaking.
A key plank in progressive ideology is immigrant and migrant well-being. The wine industry has long been an important source of work for those who have immigrated to the United States from other countries, particularly Mexico and Central America. The exploitation of migrants and immigrants, while long a part of the burgeoning American wine industry, has seen significant improvement of late, often due to the actions of the wineries and grape growers that rely on the contributions of migrants, particularly in the vineyards.
In Napa, for example, vineyard owners self-assess themselves an annual fee that raises millions to house and feed the folks who work the vineyards. In Sonoma, farm worker safety is emphasized through programs that restrict vineyard work during wildfires. Across the state, the wine industry continues to up its commitment to farm workers through housing aid, lessening work hours, and with more and more wineries and vineyards providing healthcare and insurance for migrant workers and immigrants. This can only be encouraging to the progressive perspective that values the well-being of those who are seeking a better life in the United States.
From the start and up to today, the progressive movement has championed liberal regulation and tax policy that is aimed at providing society-wide benefits. The wine industry fits perfectly into that perspective. Beginning with taxation, wine is among the few products that have its own, separate set of (excise) taxes. Taxes on wine help fund a huge number of government programs that might not otherwise exist. Many of the programs funded by wine excise taxes attack poverty and support public education, two critical elements of the progressive agenda.
Meanwhile, wine across the country is regulated with a series of laws that are aimed at preventing the negative and predatory impact of corporate marketing excesses. Progressives know that too often the corporate impulse manipulates consumers into harmful behaviors leading to negative outcomes that can be mitigated by more aggressive regulation. Wine is subject to aggressive regulation that should satisfy the progressive’s impulse to see government protect the the most vulnerable.
Progressives have long been at the forefront of the pursuit of social justice be it the abolitionist movement, the educational and child labor reforms of the early 20th century, the civil rights movement, and, today, the renewed social justice efforts. Of all parts of the alcohol industry, wine has most leaned into this effort to increase diversity and inclusion.
From the smallest to the largest producer, we’ve seen a renewed commitment to reaching out to minority, racialized, and marginalized communities to bring them into wine. Diversity, equity, and inclusion protocols have swept across the wine industry, be it among producers, retailers, or wholesalers. Scholarship funds to make wine education more accessible have sprung like spring flowers and have been supported by a variety of industry entities and individuals. Representation at conferences and on industry panels of previously excluded people has increased significantly. Wine has been at the forefront of bringing DEI to the alcohol beverage industry and is one more reason for Progressives to support wine.
Finally, the progressive movement has always been one that prioritizes social and community values over individualism and bootstrapping as a means of organizing society and if there is a beverage more symbolic of this progressive value than wine, I don’t know it. Wine is the beverage or sharing, of passing around, of partaking from the single bottle. You don’t see folks pass around the can of beer or the fifth of Vodka. Wine is the beverage that most symbolizes shared experience.
On top of this, wine is the beverage that most emphasizes the anti-globalist value of community and local production. While most wine is produced by large, corporate players, the vast majority of wines are produced by small, family wineries that have long placed emphasis on the meaning of community, local values, small farms and local distribution. Few values could be more emblematic of Progressivism.
Progressives have long urged citizens to let their values lead their consumption choices and where they spend their dollars. If this is so and if this effort to direct consumer choice—even our choice of alcohol—toward progressive values, then wine must overwhelmingly be the choice of the Progressive. Wine ought to be the beverage they reach for, share, and promote.
_____________
Coming Soon: The Conservative Case For Wine