Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/111102
TANK AND BARREL CLEANING MACHINES Wine Road events such as Winter Wineland draw thousands of wine lovers to the region. ber (Wine Roads produces an annual cookbook for the event). The guiding principle is "always to stick with our mission, which is to educate and bring people to the area," Perry said. Along with the three big events, there is a year-round effort to bring in visitors. "The events are great, but it's the time when it's not event (season) that we're really interested in getting people to visit the area," she said. The association holds regular meetings to get member feedback and update wineries on events coming up and what they need to do to participate. "The biggest challenge for Beth, I'm sure, is getting everybody to do what they're supposed to do. It's like herding cats," Perry said with a laugh. Getting the visitor experience right brings its own rewards. Among Acorn's recent visitors was a man who was taking his girlfriend out for a holiday treat. It turned out he'd come across Acorn on a Winter Wineland tour about three years previously and never forgot it. In the early days, selling people on the beauties of Sonoma County was an uphill battle. About 10 years ago, Wine Road representatives began visiting concierges in San Francisco to keep them updated on what's happening up north. "They're a great gateway in the city and they would tell people, `You take Highway 101 to 37 to Napa,'" Costa said. "We tried to introduce them to: `Stay on 101. Come all the way north to the Wine Road area.'" Pitching Sonoma County has become easier as more people discover its laid-back charms. The region narrowly edged the Napa Valley in a side-by-side comparison conducted by Sunset magazine last summer and came out as the top U.S. wine destination (and No. 2 world wine destination) in TripAdvisor's 2012 Travelers' Choice results. "People definitely know where we are now," Costa said. w w w. v w m media.com CUSTOMER-DRIVEN SOLUTIONS FOR WINE TANKS AND BARRELS • Use Less Water & Chemicals • Spend Less Time Cleaning • Preserve Product Quality Gamajet®, part of the Alfa Laval group sales@gamajet.com www.gamajet.com 1.877.GAMAJET M a r - A p r 2 0 13 | V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T 79