SPRINGFIELD, Ill,. (IRN) — Illinois vintners are looking forward to a banner year due to a law that rolls back fees.

Lisa Ellis, executive director of Illinois Grape Growers and Vintners Alliance, said the law approved by the Illinois legislature and signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker will save most Illinois vintners $500 each in yearly fees.

“The majority of wineries in the state are very small, well under 50,000 gallons in production,” Ellis said to The Center Square. “They will use every penny in reduced operating costs to make improvements to their businesses.” 

Illinois has about 169 wine tasting rooms in the state. Small wineries make 90% of their money from on-premises tasting rooms.

Enthusiasm for local wine grows every year, Ellis said. Illinois is now number 18 among states that produce wine. With the popularity of farm to table restaurants, it only makes sense that people who seek out locally grown foods will also enjoy locally produced wines, Ellis said.

“The wine lists of a lot of these restaurants are still dominated by wines from California and New York and outside of the country. For a true local experience, let’s put some Illinois wines on those menus,” Ellis said.

Many Illinois wineries are in southern Illinois. Licensing fees in neighboring Missouri are capped at $300 a year, Ellis said. The yearly fee for an Illinois vintner will now be $750 due to the rollback. 

Ellis said most Illinois wineries are still recovering from the pandemic, when their tasting rooms were shut down. The only reason most Illinois wineries were able to survive is because Illinois wineries are allowed to ship wine directly to their customers. 

“That really helped our wineries get over the hump,” Ellis said. “And if the wineries weren’t taking advantage of direct-to-consumer shipping before COVID, many more of them are now on board with that.”

A bill currently before the legislature, House Bill 2399, will require what Ellis terms “a significant administrative burden” on the direct-to-consumer wine shipping process. This month Illinois winemakers are making the case to the legislators that HB 2399 would have a “critical negative impact on the Illinois wine industry,” Ellis said.

Illinois wineries are part of Illinois’ $2 billion agro-tourism industry, Ellis said. 

“Wineries are part of the fabric of their communities,” she said. “Wineries are gathering places that add to the sense of place that people enjoy when they visit a new part of the state.”

People traveling around the state to go camping, antiquing, fishing or boating tend to stay longer in areas where there is a local winery, Ellis said. 

“That means more restaurant meals, more hotel stays and more people who fill up their gas tanks,” she said.

Ellis wants everyone to download the Illinois Wine app. All across the state there are unique and wonderful wineries to discover.

By ZETA CROSS for the Illinois Radio Network