A Taste of What’s to Come for Oregon Wine Month 2017

Mark your calendar: the sixth annual Oregon Wine Month is coming in May!

May is right around the corner, and OWB has a full schedule of activities planned for Oregon Wine Month. Over the next couple of weeks, keep an eye out for tools and inspiration you can use to maximize Oregon Wine Month 2017 for your business, including the Oregon Wine Month toolkit, point-of-sale ordering instructions and webinar registration information.

In the meantime, here is a rundown of how OWB is building on the successes of previous years while incorporating feedback from the industry to create a program that will help drive sales across all channels – from restaurants and retail shops to tasting rooms and wine clubs.

New elements planned for this spring include:

• A new campaign that draws on the strength of Oregon’s food and wine culture, featuring five Oregon Wine A-List chefs who have each created a recipe to pair with one of the state’s top five wine varieties
• Expanded outreach to Pacific Northwest distributors, alerting them to program elements, sell sheets and point of sale materials (see note below to ensure your distributor is on our contact list)
• Broader social and digital marketing to consumers in the Pacific Northwest and San Francisco Bay Area, enticing them to plan a visit to Oregon wine country
• Featured events and promotions created by regional associations throughout the state, to be highlighted on the Oregon Wine Month website and in online advertising
• Trade and media support of Pour Oregon, a Cellar503 event showcasing wines from around the state

Continuing elements from previous years include:

• A partnership with OpenTable promoting restaurants featuring an Oregon wine flight during May
• Server incentives for Oregon wine sales at participating A-List restaurants
• Wine steward display competitions at Fred Meyer, New Seasons, Safeway and Ray’s Food Place
• Partnership with top Pacific Northwest distributors to activate their sales teams in advance of and during May
• Point of sale materials delivered to tasting rooms upon request
• Five-week takeover of Sip Northwest Live with Brian Bushlach, airing throughout Oregon and Washington
• Opportunity for tasting rooms to promote events on the Oregon Wine consumer events calendar for free
• Sweepstakes to drive traffic to Oregon Wine Month website and build OWB’s consumer contact list

Oregon Wine Month presents our community with a powerful opportunity to join together to make a big impact. Each individual tasting room event, winemaker dinner, sampling event and Facebook post amplifies our collective voice. Start brainstorming now about how you will make this the best Oregon Wine Month yet!

Note: To ensure your Oregon and Washington distributors are hearing from OWB, email Christina DeArment with their contact information and they will be added to the OWB trade contact list.