Vintners and growers rally for 2009

The Sonoma Valley Vintners and Growers Alliance had record attendance at its annual “State of the Alliance” meeting on Tuesday. Michael Muscardini of Muscardini Cellars introduced the community theme that ran through all the speeches, saying, “Success comes from all of us working together.” He said an impressive two million visitors come to Sonoma Valley each year – two-and-a-half times more than visit San Francisco. That doesn’t mean the SVVGA is sitting on its laurels, however. Grant Raeside, executive director of SVVGA, spoke about a number of marketing initiatives.
He threw out some notable numbers of his own. “I’ve watched this organization grow from just a handful of members to well over 100,” said Raeside. “Last year alone, we received an unprecedented $1.5 million in cash, goods and services donated by our members and sponsors that has enabled us to function, give back and promote Sonoma Valley wines. When you consider that our budget is half of that, it is an incredible amount of money and an awesome contribution. And working together, we can continue to make Sonoma Valley a top wine destination.”
In 2008, Sonoma Valley was featured prominently in both local and far-reaching national electronic and print media. From the NBC Bay Area television show, “Sonoma Valley Experience” that reached 140,000 viewers to mentions in magazines ranging from “Angeleno Magazine” to “Gourmet” and just about everything in between, Sonoma garnered top media attention.
But staying in the public eye takes an enormous amount of work, and SVVGA continues to grow and evolve to meet those challenges. Last year, the organization distributed the first round of Sonoma Valley winery maps to Bay Area hotels, rental car agencies, visitor centers and local wineries. And the “Directional Arrow Program” has expanded to include 16 posts with 274 arrows pointing visitors to 44 Valley wineries. Further efforts included hosting sommeliers and media tours, sponsoring Sonoma Jazz + and San Francisco Magazine’s Best of the Bay event as well as launching the affiliate vintner program recognizing wineries outside the Sonoma Valley who make wine from Sonoma Valley grapes.
Ken Fischang, president and CEO of the Sonoma County Tourism Bureau, said he and his staff are working hard to promote Sonoma as America’s premier wine, spa and coastal destination. To that end, the bureau has a brand new 2009-2010 visitors’ guide, official wine and visitors’ maps, and an events calendar. “Our job is to identify potential visitors and bring them here for an overnight stay,” said Fischang. “We have a comprehensive booking engine where visitors can get a wealth of information and we make extensive use of social media sites like Twitter to draw visitors from near and far. Further, rising gas prices have created a ‘staycation’ market, which is a great opportunity for us to increase tourism in this economy.” The Sonoma County Tourism Bureau was established in 2005 and is funded through an assessment tax on hotel guests.
Sonoma Mayor Ken Brown briefly took the podium to extol the virtues of Sonoma Valley. In light of the upcoming water shortage he quipped that the new town slogan should be, “Drink wine, not water.”
As SVVGA strives to continue to promote Sonoma Valley wines, a number of initiatives for 2009 have come into play. Most notably is a new logo that clearly defines Sonoma Valley as the origination of local grapes and locally produced wine. Additionally, the Sonoma Valley Sommelier Experience, a partnership with the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa, will provide sommeliers with first-hand exposure to Sonoma Valley grapes and wines. Web site enhancements will include video clips, podcasts and SVVGA’s very own blog. Direct links to featured winery Web sites will help channel some of the 400 daily hits to SonomaValleyWine.com. The new Sonoma Valley Wine Competition will be a quarterly event promoting new releases from participating wineries. Dates for this event are March 26, June 25, Sept. 24 and Dec. 3.
Two new campaigns are aimed at getting locals to drink more Sonoma Valley wine. Sonoma Valley After Hours encourages the community to visit winery tasting rooms by keeping doors open from 6 to 8 p.m. on a bi-monthly basis. Perhaps even more enticing is Wine Wednesday, where participating restaurants will provide one complimentary glass of Sonoma Valley wine to promote “by the glass” purchases in local restaurants.
So despite the lagging economy and some fear in the marketplace, Sonoma Valley vintners and growers together with the Sonoma County Tourism board and the City of Sonoma, are proactively seeking continued growth in difficult economic times ahead.