Bill > A4388

Introduced Session

This bill directs the president of Rutgers, The State University to appoint a chief viticulturist and a chief enologist at the university. Under the bill, the president of Rutgers, The State University is required to appoint a chief viticulturist to the university. The chief viticulturist is to lead research in grape science and production in the State. The chief viticulturist is to report directly to the president of the university. The bill also requires the president of Rutgers to appoint a chief enologist at the Food Innovation Center of the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station. The chief enologist is to apply a combination of scientific knowledge and winemaking knowledge to assist wineries in the State in developing new wines and improving the quality of wine produced in the State. The chief enologist is to report directly to the director of the Food Innovation Center. State support for wine industries is particularly vigorous in Virginia, Washington, New York, and Oregon. In 1984, the Virginia General Assembly established the Virginia Wine Board (then called the Virginia Winegrowers Advisory Board) and created staff positions, including a state enologist and state viticulturist at Virginia Tech, to promote the development of the wine industry. In Washington, the Washington State Wine Commission is a state government agency established by the state legislature in 1987 and funded by assessments on state grape and wine sales. The commission is responsible for promoting, raising awareness of, and demand for, Washington wines both domestically and internationally through educational programs, marketing and communications, and viticulture and enology research. In collaboration with Washington State University, a total of $1.12 million in funding was provided by the commission and the university for research programs in viticulture, enology, and agricultural economics from 2021 to 2022. The New York Wine and Grape Foundation is a state government agency established by state statute in 1985, and funded by state appropriations. The purpose of the foundation is to promote New York grapes and wines to benefit farmers, producers, and consumers through marketing, research, communication, and advocacy. Like the Washington State Wine Commission and New York Wine and Grape Foundation, the Oregon Wine Board is a semi-independent state agency established in Oregon statute. Among its numerous duties are funding viticulture and enology research.

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Alex Sauickie (R)*, 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee (on 02/19/2026)

Official Document