In 2003, The Washington Wine Industry Foundation (WWIF) received a Commodity Partnerships for Risk Management Education grant from USDA to develop risk management programs for the Washington grape, tree fruit and potato industries.

The goal of the grant program was to ensure that agricultural producers would be better able to use emerging risk management tools to ensure the future of their businesses.

WWIF fulfilled the grant by developing grape risk management tools, nicknamed Riskbusters, to help growers identify and address risk topics pertinent to their businesses. The Riskbusters templates, checklists of questions by topic, were created by a team of industry experts.

The topics completed included: Insurance, Contracts, Human Resources, Business Plans, Marketing Plans, Water Management, Soil Surface and Soil Management.  

Vinewise grew from the original checklists as a way to address the entire spectrum of sustainability – the environment, viticulture practices and growers’ businesses.