Touring Sonoma Valley with clients recently I noticed that the section in several wineries where they put information about the valley, including other wineries, was gone. It seems that the wineries have decided that giving people ideas of other places to go is a bad idea. How short sighted is that?
The people who decided that policy need to get out more. This is wine country, which is essentially farm country with great restaurants. That means farm roads with limited signs and roads obstructed with foliage and difficult to locate addresses. For most visitors accustomed to urban and suburban streets this might as well be the jungle. It's not like GPS actually works well up here.
We ran into this mentality while selling our first tour book (we're up to number eight). A purchasing agent say to me, 'Why would we sell them a tour book when they are already here?' Well, maybe so they can remember they were here tomorrow, and find their way back some day, or recommend you to a friend. I have done an unofficial survey of wine tourists and typically they only remember about 40% of the wineries that they visited the day before. They have been drinking after all!
Winery owners, how do you get yourself in that winning percentage? If you sell them a tour book and it has your sticker on the back, or advertising materials tucked into the pages, that's a better reminder than that bottle of wine sealed in a case, waiting for the shipper. When you recommend wineries near your own you endear the people to your area. I've lost count of the clients who wanted to return to a winery they had visited before, in part because it is familiar. If there are several wineries nearby that they like, there is an even better chance they will find their way back to your neighborhood.
So Sonoma Valley, get it together. You already pour wine for drivers who then navigate these country roads a little loopy, and now you want to hide the maps. As a tour guide I appreciate you making it harder for people to drive themselves, since that encourages them to hire us. As a person who spends a large amount of time driving in an area where a high percentage of the other drivers have been drinking, I would appreciate a little helpful guidance for those folks. Reinstate you information areas and buy our newest tour book, Napa & Sonoma, A Love Affair in Maps. Every other page is a map, the fonts are oversized, and as it says on the cover, An Easy to Use Connect the Dots Winery Guide for Using in a Convertible with the Top Down and the Wind in Your Hair. www.AmicisTours.com
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