Calif. vintners push to open wine tasting rooms

By JACOB ADELMAN, Associated Press Writer 22 minutes ago

RAMONA, Calif. - Don Cohorst has acres of vineyards, a stash of small-batch vintages and a barn he wants to turn into a cozy tasting room for vino-sipping visitors.

But his plan and those of many other winemakers in California have been scuttled by a growing backlash among residents who don‘t want tipsy tourists weaving through their quiet communities, possibly putting locals at risk while increasing traffic congestion and noise.

With wine consumption booming in the U.S., more vineyards are taking a cue from areas like Napa and Sonoma and marketing themselves as destinations for oenophiles.

Wine tourism contributed $2 billion to the California economy in 2006, up from $1.2 billion in 1998, according to the organization.

Opponents, however, threatened to sue, arguing the county had not adequately studied the affects on traffic and the environment. The county put the ordinance on hold while planners conduct a study that could take two years to complete.

In addition, many of those wineries charge $10 or more for a few small samples, making tasting rooms expensive places to do much drinking. And true connoisseurs taste then spit the wine into countertop buckets.

In Los Olivos, nestled in the Santa Barbara County wine country featured in the 2004 film "Sideways," residents plan to propose a land use ordinance to stop the opening of new tasting rooms.

Cohorst, 75, is convinced that tasting rooms are needed to sustain his four-acre operation and the nascent wine renaissance in the Ramona Valley.

The effort got a boost in 2006, when federal officials recognized the valley as a wine appellation — a wine grape-growing region with a unique combination of soil, climate and topography.

Cohorst thinks a tasting room will also help him market his wine. He is struggling to make ends meet on the money he collects selling to retailers and has had to finance his 4-year-old operation with assets gained during previous careers as a rocket-parts maker, Christmas tree farmer and steakhouse franchisee.

He believes he could make a decent retirement income if he could sell directly to consumers.

"I‘d be making money instead of spending money," he said.



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