Walla Walla Wine Month Goes On Pt 1
With today’s Fruit Grower Report, I’m Bob Larson. There’s a correction I’d like to make about a story we ran the past couple of days … The First Annual Walla Walla Valley Wine Month will GO ON AS SCHEDULED! But, to no one’s surprise, the April celebration won’t be nearly as intimate as it might have been without the coronavirus.
For example, Walla Walla Valley Wine Alliance Executive Director Robert Hansen says you’ll have to get your Walla Walla Wines “to go” …
HANSEN … “Yep, but what’s interesting, people are buying a lot of it out of the grocery stores, is what I’m hearing. I think that’s what happens during recessions and bear markets.”
So, Hansen says much of April’s activities will be online …
HANSEN … “We still have Walla Walla Valley Wine Month, but our focus is on online sales and then future visitations to the valley. So, we’re promoting the valley a lot on social media and promoting all the shipping deals and pickup deals the wineries have are on our website, so that’s really what we’re doing right now.”
In the meantime, Hansen says the wineries are doing their part …
HANSEN … “We’re encouraging the wineries to get involved with just kind of promoting themselves on social media a lot more than normal since they have the time to do that and since they’re not pouring wine. It’s more of a remind people we exist kind of idea.”
As for certain wine month activities like the Reveal Walla Walla Valley Auction, Food Truck Night, and Tour de Walla Walla bike race …
HANSEN … “The auction is postponed, I know the food trucks are postponed, or not hap, you can’t postpone a food truck, they’re delayed until they can open publicly. And, I have not seen anything about the tour, but I could probably guarantee you that that’s canceled too.”
Listen tomorrow for more on how you can still celebrate Walla Walla Valley Wine Month.
