Letter from Your President

This past year was like few others in Oregon wine industry history.

New opportunities and pressures presented themselves as Oregon continued to attract extraordinary attention from trade partners, wine critics, investors and consumers around the world.

Wine Spectator editor Tim Fish summed it up accurately, writing: “Oregon is the most dynamic wine region in the U.S. right now.”

To leverage and extend that reputation, the Oregon Wine Board’s education, communications, research and marketing activities were again focused on helping grape growers and winemakers adapt to an evolving, more intensely competitive environment while discovering the unique potential in their businesses.

Important milestones from 2018-19 included a new attendance record for the Oregon Wine Symposium, the global launch of an online trade curriculum branded Learn Oregon, fresh insights about our wine tourists, and more effective integration with Travel Oregon’s new consumer trip-planning platform. We also choreographed comprehensive itineraries for media guests and carefully-chosen international buyers to introduce them to the compelling range of wines spread across the state’s 19 AVAs. And we forged new alliances, including one with our counterparts from New Zealand to jointly design and deliver an historic education event for New York trade and media.

Equally important, your Board looked towards the future by investing an all-time record amount in viticulture and enology research. We also sponsored extensive statewide tours during which we invited your perspective and guidance on how best to allocate the industry’s resources for maximum impact in scientific research and marketing. Your input and advice helped the Board define, refine and embrace new strategic plans in those two critical functional disciplines that will guide OWB
investments and programming.

The following pages provide additional details on the programs enabled by industry tax dollars, supplemented by grant awards, along with the results they delivered.

On behalf of the Oregon Wine Board Directors and management, I want to thank you for your suggestions and feedback during the year. Please feel free to contact us anytime with additional ideas and comments on how we can more effectively support your family’s business.

Tom Danowski
President