A MOVE TO INCREASE MARKETING IN SONOMA

The Sonoma County Winegrape Commission is holding an election in May on whether the growers want to raise $1.2 million a year to promote the area’s wine region. Currently, Sonoma Country invests only $500,000 in marketing while Napa Valley devotes $4 million, and Washington and Oregon each spend over $1 million a year. Many Sonoma officials feel the need to catch up with other imports and local regions on their ads, tastings and wine promotions, especially since increased marketing could help brand Sonoma County as a wine-and-food region like Tuscany. Average grape prices in Napa are $1,000 a ton higher than Sonoma County’s average prices with the gap widening the past five years. Napa also holds 42 wine events a year while Sonoma does only 29. However, not everyone out of the 1,000 Sonoma growers support the election. Some believe that wineries and growers already do enough to endorse the region and feel promotions should be split equally between the two groups.