The Santa Barbara County Wine Business Improvement District reported on Tuesday that $1.2 million in wine sales fee collections in its first year funded public relations and marketing efforts that may have helped Santa Barbara AVA maintain sales while other regions saw reductions.
“Santa Barbara County, unlike some other wine regions, is holding steady or has a very slight increase in sales whereas other counties this past year have declined. I wish I could say that it is our Wine Improvement District… that I could draw a straight line between the District and this. I do think that the work that we do is protective to the wine industry right now,” Santa Barbara Count Vintners Association CEO Alison Laslett told supervisors.
Under contract with the county, the association also administers the business of that special district…