LAKE COUNTY – The Lake County Marketing and Economic Development Program and the Lake County Winery Association reported that they've completed installation of the first of several winery directional signs that will be located at key intersections around Lake County.
These way-finding signs are designed to assist travelers in visiting local wineries and tasting rooms, many of which are located some distance off of key travel routes, and to position and brand Lake County as a major wine region.
Each sign consists of a 10-foot-tall redwood post wrapped in a white vinyl sleeve. White arrow-shaped panels are attached in ladder style down the sides of the post, and each arrow features the name of and distance in miles to a local winery/tasting room.
The goal is to have a total of 11 signs installed around Lake County over the coming months.
The first sign recently was installed at the intersection of Spruce Grove Road and Highway 29 in Lower Lake. It was in place in time to help visitors during this past weekend's Lake County Wine Adventure find their way around. An estimated 1,500 visitors were expected to be the county for the weekend event.
The second and third sign locations will be near the intersections of Highway 29 and State Route 281 (Kit’s Corner) in Kelseyville and Highways 29 and 20 in Upper Lake.
Similar types of signs can be seen in other major wine regions throughout California and beyond.
In developing Lake County’s signs, county staff and association representatives made contact with other wine industry groups for lessons learned and best practices regarding sign policies, identified potential sites and contacted landowners, and worked in consultation with Caltrans to develop a sign style that would be supported by the state’s transportation agency for installation along highway routes.
This visitor-oriented directional signage project has been a collaborative effort between the Lake County Marketing and Economic Development Program, the Lake County Winery Association, with support from numerous property owners throughout the county, including the Fults family, Seely family, Mr. and Mrs. Ray Brooks, James Jonas and Brad Terrill to name just a few of those who already have volunteered to set aside a small section of their parcels for the signs.
This project also is a model for supporting local business; the design and manufacture of the signs was done by RAH Outdoor in Middletown in conjunction with Steel Starts in Lakeport with installation being handled by James Zimmerman of Middletown.
Lake County is part of the North Coast appellation along with neighboring regions of Napa, Sonoma, and Mendocino. Within Lake County are five appellations: Benmore Valley, Clear Lake, Guenoc, High Valley and Red Hills.
The Lake County Winery Association (LCWA) started in 2007 with 15 wineries. Just three years later, the association’s winery membership has doubled, bringing the total number of member wineries to 30. LCWA also is supported by its dozen or so associate members.
LCWA works closely with the county of Lake, the Lake County Winegrape Commission, the two area chambers of commerce, and other county organizations to increase tourism in Lake County.
The Lake County Marketing and Economic Development Program is a division of the Lake County Administrative Office and actively works to promote tourism to and commerce in Lake County; efforts include media relations, visitor attraction, film commission, community beautification, and business assistance.
For visitor information visit www.lakecounty.com; for more information about the association and a list of the member wineries, call 707-355-2762 or visit www.lakecountywineries.org.
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