Moving one step closer to forming a wine business improvement district that would levy a 1% assessment on all direct-to-consumer sales of Santa Barbara County wines, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday encouraged public testimony during which three industry members heartily endorsed the plan.
The hearing was activated by the supervisors’ 5-0 vote on Dec. 17 to adopt a resolution of intent toward establishing the Santa Barbara County Wine Improvement District, or SBCWID.
The district would fund marketing to boost Santa Barbara County as a wine destination for tourists from around the world. Among the steps to help market the local region would be community events, branding, and both government and industry educational events.
Tuesday’s public hearing, the final one before the supervisors are scheduled to vote for or against establishment of the district on Feb. 11, was held to allow any protests against the proposed BID. It was limited to 30 minutes.
With adoption, the newly formed district would start assessments on sales in April.
While they did not take any action on the SBCWID itself, the supervisors Tuesday did vote 5-0 that the campaign is not a project under the California Environmental Quality Act because it’s only an administrative activity of the government, and would not directly or indirectly incur physical changes in the environment.
Nicholas Miller, vice president of sales and marketing for the Miller Family Wine Co. and the fifth generation of a longtime Santa Maria Valley farming family, called Santa Barbara County’s wine industry “chronically underfunded” despite its reputation for world-class wines.
“Other (wine) regions have outspent us with their funding,” he told the supervisors.
Riley Wathen Slack described herself as the second-generation owner of Foxen Wines, co-founded 40 years ago by her father, Bill Wathen, and Dick Dore. The winery, she said, produces 11,000 cases per year, meaning Foxen falls between larger wineries and those that produce 3,000 or fewer cases annually.
“Last year, we saw a significant decline in sales, which were down 15% from those in 2023,” she said. “The BID would be a lifesaver” for this region.
Winemaker Karen Steinwachs, the owner of Seagrape Cellars, said she considers herself “the smallest of the small” producers with about 500 cases per year. A resident of Santa Barbara County since 2001, Steinwachs noted that while she has made wine for much larger wineries, she views the proposed assessment “as an equal opportunity for small and large wineries.”
“To have my tiny brand included in these efforts is fantastic,” she said.