House Panel Okays Funds to Research Smoke Taint in Wines

The House Appropriations Committee approved, 29-21, and sent to the House floor a disaster-assistance bill that includes $1.5 million in research funding to address issues related to smoke-exposed winegrapes.

“We appreciate the committee’s decision to fund smoke exposure research and I want to commend, in particular, the leadership of California Reps. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) and Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.) to obtain these funds,” said California Association of Winegrape Growers (CAWG) President John Aguirre.

CAWG and other industry organizations from California, Oregon and Washington originally requested $5 million for smoke exposure research. These groups will continue to push for the full $5 million as the U.S. Senate works on its bill to fund the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration and related agencies.

This entry was posted in Wine and tagged , , . Bookmark the permalink.