News

Lake County Winery Association

Hosts Bay Area Hotel Concierges

Written by Editor

Lake County News
Saturday, 10 May 2008

LAKEPORT – How do you efficiently spread the word about the bounty and beauty of Lake County to the 16 million tourists that arrive in San Francisco every year? Why not enlist the help of a hotel concierge? They are the people guests turn to when they are looking for advice about exploring California wine country.

So when members of the Lake County Winery Association and Lake County Marketing Program set their sights on promoting Lake County wineries as a destination, they invited eight of the Bay Area’s top hotel concierges for a tour last week.

“We created a two-day, action packed itinerary that really left the concierges with lots to talk about and recommend,” explains Gregory Graham, vice chairman of the nine-month-old Lake County Winery Association (LCWA).

To start the trip, the concierges were whisked from downtown San Francisco to Sausalito, where a deluxe helicopter was waiting. A quick 45-minute scenic flight brought them directly to Shannon Ridge Winery where they toured high elevation vineyards while enjoying spectacular views of the lake. At Ceago Vinegarden, the guests learned about the multifaceted aspects of producing wine using organic and biodynamic farming methods.

Just when they thought it couldn’t get any better, guests were shuttled to the Tallman Hotel, hosts of their overnight stay and the evening winemaker’s reception. As they sipped and sampled more Lake County wines, and chatted with industry members, it became clear that Lake County had made a great impression with the concierges.

“I’m looking forward to sending our guests to this jewel north of San Francisco; and of course I can not wait to come back myself to sample all these delicious wines again by that beautiful lake,” said David Perea Kihien of San Francisco’s Grand Hyatt Hotel. “This trip has been awesome – such unexpected beauty!”

On the second day of the trip, Aero Airport Shuttle transported guests as they explored Upper Lake and Kelseyville shops and wine tasting rooms, experienced a barrel tasting at Six Sigma Winery and savored port and chocolate truffles at Langtry Estate and Vineyard.

“I think we made a lasting impression and put Lake County on the map for wine aficionados and travelers looking for something beyond typical wine country tours,” Debra Sommerfield, deputy administrative officer with Lake County Economic Development explained. “But it couldn’t have happened without the tremendous contribution of so many Lake County wineries and businesses. Everyone worked so well together on this – and it really showed!”

New winery organization to promote Lake County
By Elizabeth Wilson--Record-Bee staff
Article Last Updated: 04/30/2008 09:04:06 PM PDTLAKE COUNTY -- A brand new organization of wineries that aims to promote Lake County as a wine region paired with the county to host hotel representatives Tuesday and Wednesday.

The tour led Bay Area hotel executives through area tasting rooms in the hope that hotels will turn around and promote Lake County as a destination to guests.

"They're tremendously positive. They see it as a really great alternative to other areas they are traditionally sending guests to," Matt Hughes said, president of the nine-month-old Lake County Winery Association (LCWA).

Hughes said the Bay Area views Lake County as a more "approachable and casual" version of wine country, where tastings are around $5 rather than $20, and lines non-existent.

"The golden ticket for us is we like to say it's wine country with altitude, because we have a lot of high elevation vineyards," Hughes said.

The tour was sponsored by the association and the county. LCWA came together out of collaboration between several winery owners, but didn't form until 2007 because the county "never had the critical mass to get it started." Today there are 23 wineries in the county. A little over a year ago, there were just 14 and six years ago only four wineries.

Hughes said the group will run the Wine Adventure this summer, and join with the Winegrape Commission on other events to bring a focus on the consumer.

The group is currently developing ideas on how to expand the Winegrape Commission's events, such as the High Altitude Viticultural Symposium. "Those events have kind of been trade events we'd like to open it up to consumers as well," Hughes said. There is "a lot of crossover between the two organizations in membership," he added.

The organization is open not only to winery owners, but businesses wishing to promote Lake County's wine region. "Right now the Tallman Hotel and Blue Wing Saloon are associate members. We'd love to see a lot of businesses and restaurants join that are interested in seeing the wine industry grow here."

Members pay a one-time fee to join and annual dues loosely based on winery production levels.

In conjunction with the county, the organization just produced a winery map to include new wineries that have been established in the last few years. It was distributed to the North California Concierge Association members this week to include on hotel Web sites.

The eight guests included representatives from Le Meridien, Palace Hotel, Monterey Hyatt Regency, Yountville Inn, Grand Hyatt and the Hyatt Regency. They visited Shannon Ridge, Ceago Vinegardens, Wildhurst, Rosa D'Oro Winery, Six Sigma and Langtry Estate and Vineyards. A new Web site for the organization will be up and running shortly. For more information on the group, visit www.lakecountywineries.org.

Contact Elizabeth Wilson at ewilson@record-bee.com