Updates on Wineries:

Surface Creek Winery has moved to a new location at the Historic Eckert Odd Fellows Hall at 1297 Highway 65 in Eckert.

Garfield Estates Winery is open in Palisade as of June 1st, and they will be holding an open house (RSVP please!) on June 29th.

The Winery at Holy Cross Abby in Cañon City will be opening at the end of June.

Updates on the RMAVV web page:

There is a new RMAVV Industry Reference page off of the links page that I will use for a reference list of useful local information.  It now contains the SO2 supplier info that was discussed during the last meeting.

I've also added some more labs to the links page.

Grand Junction VCB Fruit & Wine News Release
FWNewsRelease.doc (Microsoft Word doc)
The Grand Junction VCB also keeps current info for GJ area wineries on their website at www.visitgrandjunction.com
You can mail any updates or changes to: Irene Carlow at irenec@ci.grandjct.co.us

Winery Capacity Report
Doug Caskey has provided us with his Winery Capacity Report from the April Meeting. (Thanks Doug!)
CapacityReport01.xls (Microsoft Excel Document)
It is also linked to the archives.
 

Winery Fax from Doug Caskey at the CWIDB
Date: 12 June 2002
From: Doug Caskey, executive director
Colorado Wine Industry Development Board
Phone: 720.304.3406

TO: All Colorado wineries
We are reaching the end of a very intense month of marketing and promotions for Colorado wine, beginning with the Estes Park Festival of Wine and concluding with the Lafayette 95th St. Festival next week. Thanks to all of you who have worked so hard to pull off so many successful events. The Colorado residents who are still unaware that we make wine here are either living in a hole to escape the fires or are teetotalers. Certainly our thoughts go out to those trying to escape the fires.

EVENT OPPORTUNITIES:
Thursday, June 20, 6:30-9:30 PM: Alzheimer’s Assoc. Gala in Denver.  I still need wine and possibly one more winery or person to help pour at the Seawell Ballroom in the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. This will be one of the last events at which the CWIDB will pay for the wine poured. Given my schedule, however, I will need any wine to be poured delivered to either Boulder or Lakewood. Please call me to arrange this.

Friday and Saturday, June 21-22: Lafayette 95th Street Festival of Colorado Wine. I will get information out to participating wineries this week.

Thursday, June 27: CSU Alumni Assoc. presentation in Denver. I will be addressing 100-150 CSU alumni at the Metropolitan Club in the Denver Tech Center and pouring a bit of wine. While I won’t need assistance with this group, I will need some wine, which the CWIDB will pay for. Please contact me to arrange delivery of your wine.

Friday, June 28, 4-6 PM and every Friday through September: Oxford Hotel Colorado product tasting. The elegant Oxford Hotel in LoDo is featuring Colorado products during their Friday afternoon reception time. They have agreed to pour a Colorado wine each Friday to accompany the food product being served. The hotel will purchase one case of the wine featured to offer on its room service menu and is asking for one case of wine to be donated for the promotion. Only four wineries have asked to participate in this promotion so far. The Oxford attracts many metro-area and in-state people, so this promotion will reach a very affluent Colorado consumer. Please give me a list of the wines you would like to have considered along with wholesale pricing for the hotel if you want to participate. The hotel also wants brochures and talking points about each wine and winery.

Wednesday, July 24, 5:30-7 PM: Welcome Reception for the National Conference of State Legislators at the Denver Center Galleria. Colorado is trying to show off its best for the gathering of state legislators from across the country next month. They have asked us to provide 12 cases of wine or more for their opening reception, which will I am sure be appreciated by our own state legislators. As the new promotional wine policy will be in effect, wineries will need to donate these cases. Please call me if you are interested.

Friday, August 16, 4-7 PM and Saturday, August 17, 2-6 PM: Evergreen Discount Liquors Parking Lot Tasting. This is the next parking lot event that is not only confirmed but also has room for wineries. Contact Greg Thomas, wine manager at Evergreen (303.674.9170) and CWIDB secretary, to get your products into the store ASAP. Bill Donahue of Creekside Cellars is licensing the event, so call Bill to get your name on the list of participating wineries no later than July 12.

(The Wine Experience event July 4-6 is full and Lukas Liquors, July 12-13, has not confirmed).

Wednesday, August 28, 5:30-8:30 PM: Colorado West Chapter of the Colorado Restaurant Association’s “Grand Junction Dine Around.” The CRA chapter is organizing a tasting tour of GJ area restaurants on this evening and would like Colorado wineries to donate some wine to be paired with the samples prepared at various restaurants. Contact Dave Dame at Chefs’ in GJ (970.243.9673) for more information or to participate. See attached letter for more information (I don't havet this, contact Doug for a copy - nmj).

Saturday, September 28: Craig Memorial Hospital Colorado Wine Tasting. The newly formed Craig Memorial Hospital Foundation is trying to organize a Colorado wine festival to raise money. They are taking the lead in planning and publicizing this event, intending to close the downtown area on a Saturday afternoon and license it as a wine festival on the order of Palisade or Lafayette. If you have interest in licensing and/or participating in this event, please call me.

Saturday, October 12 or 19: Arvada Elks Lodge Colorado wine tasting. The Arvada Elks are hoping to organize a Colorado wine tasting, on one of these Saturdays in October, as a fundraiser. Although the lodge has a liquor license, they are hoping to license the event as a wine festival to allow wineries to sell bottles as well as pour tastes. They will handle publicity and expect attendance of 2500 people.

INFORMATION
- Laura Harris at Liquor Enforcement was getting very perturbed beginning last year about last minute changes to the lists of participating wineries on wine festival applications. This year we have requested numerous last-minute changes for winery permits.
It is imperative that if you want to participate in a wine festival permit that you contact the licensing winery as early as possible to get your winery listed on the application. Although Jim Shpall at Applejack was able to throw his weight around to get new wineries into his parking lot tasting at the very last minute, we are testing the patience of Liquor Enforcement by making last minute changes. Please respond early.
- Remember that Liquor Enforcement is recommending that you submit all applications for either a wine festival or temporary tasting room at least 30 days prior to the date of the tasting to allow plenty of time for the local licensing authority to review the copy of the application you must send to them. Although officially the requirement is 10 business days for any permit shorter than three days duration, 30 days advance application is strongly recommended.
- A winery asked Laura Harris about using underage workers in the tasting room. Her answer was that an underage person can pour wine in a tasting room as long as he or she is under the direct supervision of an adult over 21. The supervising adult must be in the same building as the tasting room and cannot supervise from the vineyards or from another nearby location.
- All wineries, visitor centers and other businesses should have received the new Colorado Wine Country brochure by now. If you have not received any brochures or need more, please contact me.
- CO Wine baseball hats are available for resale at $5.00 each and corkscrews at $2.75 each. Three-bottle carriers will probably not be available again until Wine Fest in September.
 

Promotional Funding Opportunity:

Subject:         FW: ALMOST FREE MONEY TO PROMOTE YOUR PRODUCT!
    Date:         Mon, 3 Jun 2002 16:06:08 -0600
   From:         "dcaskey" <dcaskey@coloradowine.com>
 Reply-To:        <dcaskey@qwest.net>

-----Original Message-----
From: Larsen, Timothy [mailto:Tim.Larsen@ag.state.co.us]
Sent: Monday, June 03, 2002 3:38 PM
Cc: Velasquez, Dawn
Subject: ALMOST FREE MONEY TO PROMOTE YOUR PRODUCT!

> Don't miss out on the chance to learn about the USDA program that provides
> funding to promote your product.
>
> Do you sell some of your products overseas now?  And this includes sales
> to Canada and Mexico (not actually overseas, but still an export).
>
> If you do and are not taking part in this program, you are missing out on
> an opportunity to boost your sales.
>
> Thinking about developing these markets?  Learn how this program can
> provide 50% reimbursement of your travel to the market, trade shows, and
> local language brochures!
>
> Wondering if it works for you?  Give me a call and we can discuss the
> program and what you will learn at next weeks seminar.
>
> Attached is further information and the registration forms.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Tim Larsen
>
>  << brandedseminar.doc>> (Microsoft Word Document)
> Timothy J. Larsen, Senior International Marketing Specialist
> Colorado Department of Agriculture, Markets Division
> Email: Tim.Larsen@ag.state.co.us
> phone 303-239-4118;  Fax 303-239-4125
>

Value Added Grant Program

Subject:     FW: [ava-members] Special Bulletin - June 12, 2002
Date:         Wed, 12 Jun 2002 09:27:39 -0600
From:        "dcaskey" <dcaskey@coloradowine.com>
Reply-To:   <dcaskey@qwest.net>

This is certainly an announcement that our entire industry needs to hear
about. Again, it sounds like government agencies are not allowed to submit a
grant, but the RMAVV could, if they so desire.

Doug Caskey, executive director
Colorado Wine Industry Development Board
4550 Sioux Drive
Boulder, CO 80303-3733
Ph: 720.304.3406 / Fax: 720.304.3405
www.coloradowine.com
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Colleen Nichols [mailto:cnichols@americanwineries.org]
Sent: Wednesday, June 12, 2002 7:02 AM
To: ava-members
Subject: [ava-members] Special Bulletin - June 12, 2002

June 12, 2002
TO:     AVA Members
FR:     Bill Nelson

USDA Readies Revised Value Added Grant Program
As we previously reported, Congress has greatly expanded the opportunities for wineries and producer groups to obtain matching grants from the USDA to enhance "Value Added Activities."

The USDA is currently preparing to issue a notice of available funding (Notice of Funding Availability or NOFA) which will define the terms and rules for submitting grants. Their intention is to require that grant applications be made within 45 days of the notice. The target date for the NOFA is July 1 but it might come out as much as two weeks before that.

AVA has met with USDA personnel in order to gain some preliminary understanding of the mechanics of the value added program. What follows is primarily derived from that meeting. There may be some changes apparent when the NOFA appears but we are sharing these impressions in order to provide a head start for AVA members.

Description of the Program
The  "value-added" grant program has been redesigned to help small to medium-sized farms increase their profitability and viability by keeping more income through participation in value added activities.  The revised Congressional language broadens qualification criteria to enable  wineries to qualify for the "value-added" program, and to make the program more relevant to winery needs.  Funding for value added grants has been increased from $10 million annually to $40 million.

Eligible Entities
There are four categories of operations which can qualify for grants:
1) Independent producer.  Can be a sole proprietor, LLC, C or S but not a co-op.
2) Farm or ranch co-op.
3) Ag Producer groups, trade association, or commodity groups,- governmental. marketing agencies do not qualify. Grants in this category cannot be used for normal operating expenses. The money must be used for a specific purpose within the purview of the value added program.
4) Majority controlled producer based venture where there are minority "non-producer"  investors. This category is restricted to no more than 10% of total funding.

Activities
The definition of an appropriate activity for a value added grant is not entirely clear at this time. But some aspects have emerged. Farm products which undergo a change in form (e.g. wine from grapes) qualify as "value added". Other qualification criteria are not particularly relevant to wineries but involve such elements as product segregation, using products to produce energy sources or changing the manner in which products are produced in order to enhance their value. In order to qualify the proposed activity must lead to an increase in customer base and demonstrate the ability to create more revenue for the producer.

Only independent producers can qualify for a grant to expand operations. Other producer categories must involve in their proposal a plan to move into emerging or developing markets.

Types of Grants
There are three types of grants: feasibility study grants, planning grants with the final goal of developing a business plan and working capital grants. Some projects are best presented in a sequenced manner, for example a grant for a feasibility study might be requested before submitting a request for a planning grant. The maximum amount of any grant is limited to $500,000. All funds must be matched at least one for one. One can obtain a planning grant and after completion of the activity submit a second grant request for working capital. Those requesting less money will have a better chance of obtaining a grant.

Scoring Priorities
We do not yet have a clear picture of how the applications will be scored. In the past, points were given for technical feasibility (20 pts), number of independent producers and their commitment (20 pts.), end user commitment (15 pts.), qualification of personnel performing the tasks (15 pts.), work plan (15 pts.), project cost per producer beneficiary (10 pts.) and level of support from development groups and agencies (5 pts.). Some consideration will be given for helping other producers, as in if you buy their grapes, but this will be a small weight. Congress has directed that USDA consider a project's potential for creating self-employment opportunities in farming and ranching and the likelihood that the project will contribute to conserving and enhancing the quality of land, water and other natural resources. Asking for less than the maximum grant of $500,000 will gain
priority points.

Details about previous policies and the announcement of the new program will be available at: www.rurdev.usda.gov/rbs/coops/vadg.htm

Administration
The USDA plans to administer this program by having USDA state rural development offices determine eligibility. Therefore it is probably not advantageous to develop multi-state projects. To begin the process of developing proposals, the best strategy may be to meet with the USDA state rural development official in charge. But not before the NOFA is published.

Possible Opportunities
Applicants should explain the emerging opportunity to serve a developing market and how the project will fill the need. It is possible for producers to develop a marketing agency to serve several producers. For example, wineries engaged in marketing unfamiliar varietal wines such as Viognier or French-American hybrids might be able to get funding based on the notion that these are emerging and developing markets. To do this, it might be sensible for the interested wineries to form a marketing agency in common that would be the grantee. Another approach might be to form a cooperative, for example if a group of growers decide to get together in order to form a cooperative winery in order to make wine from their grapes. New or expanding wineries,  particularly if they are owned by more than one producer, might be successful in getting grants to support their development or expansion.

Finally, new or existing wineries which are independent producers may qualify by requesting funds for either development or expansion of their winery. These proposals will be compromised because they typically only benefit one producer, but considering the new Congressional mandate and additional funding some particularly worthy proposals may actually be funded. Creativity and responsiveness to the newly developed scoring priorities will be important.

If you have any questions please call AVA 800.879.4637 x123 and speak with
Bill Nelson.

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