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State's wine booster heads home to California in June

By Kristina Shevory
Seattle Times Eastside business reporter

	JOHN LOK / THE SEATTLE TIMES Steve Burns has headed the Washington Wine Commission for the past eight years, but is planning to launch a consulting business in California this summer.
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Burns, 45, is moving back to his home state, California, to start a consulting business. His resignation is effective June 1, but he says he will stay as long as it takes to find a new director. He says he wants to continue working with the Washington wine industry after he moves.

"I loved my job and the Washington wine business," Burns said. "I believe in it 100 percent, but after eight years, it's time to move back to California to work for myself."

The Washington wine industry has evolved into a national player under Burns' eight-year watch. The state is now the second-largest wine producer in the country, behind California, and is known by about half of American wine drinkers, up from 20 percent in 1996.

Over the past eight years, the number of Washington wineries has quadrupled, from 80 in 1996 to 240 last year, and wine production has more than doubled to 17 million gallons.

"Steve has been very aggressive at getting recognition Washington deserves," said Bill Nelson, vice president of WineAmerica, a national wine trade association based in Washington, D.C. "You're better off now than when he first started."

Burns became the wine commission's second director in 1996. He previously worked for the San Francisco-based Wine Institute, which represents hundreds of California wineries, and helped it start an export program in which he led tastings around the world.

During his first year at the commission, Burns met all of the state's winery owners and growers and asked them to travel around the U.S. and overseas to market their products and increase Washington's profile in the industry.

In 1999, he helped launch Taste Washington, a wine road show that promotes Washington wines. In the past two years, the show has gone to cities around the country and abroad, including Los Angeles, New York and Toronto. The shows have become so popular that they have waiting lists.

"I wouldn't think of not being there," said Kay Simon, co-owner of Chinook Wines. "You can't sit here at home and expect people to come running to you. We have to get out into the world and be seen if we want to sell wine."

Burns, the consummate politician who thrives on getting people on his side, is known in the wine industry for uniting its players.

"It's really hard to unite growers and wineries because the goals of the groups are different," said Jeff Gordon, owner of Gordon Brothers Family Vineyards in Pasco. "It takes a unique individual like Steve to set the goals and implement the vision so both parties are looking for the same thing."

The commission is managed and funded by growers and wineries. Based on his successes, members voted to almost double their assessment in 1999 to 3.5 cents a gallon for wine and $5.25 a ton for grapes to support more commission programs. Growers and wineries also banded together to form the Washington Wine Quality Alliance to set standards for wine, such as the definition of reserve wines and a requirement that table wines with Washington labels must be made up of grapes grown in the state.

Burns' incessant lobbying helped in other ways. As lawmakers worked to cut the state budget last year, Burns got the them to add more than $2 million so colleges can create two- and four-year degrees that would support the wine industry.

Burns will be taking that energy to Sonoma County where he plans to open O'Donnell Lane, a consulting business focused on marketing, public relations and strategic planning for the wine business and other clients. He'll run the business with his partner, Josh Heiser, out of their new home in Glen Ellen, Calif.

Kristina Shevory: 206-464-2039 or kshevory@seattletimes.com

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