“Even Cooler Than You Think” and “Where Wine Takes You” sum up not just what the Paso Robles region is about but also the names of marketing campaigns and the Paso Wine Country podcast.  Chris Taranto, Communications Director of the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance, tells us about the diversity, friendliness, and character of the Paso Robles wine region.  As well as how they promote and position the region within the state and across the country.  From Zinfandel to Rhone blends and weekly zoom webinars to consumer events, Chris educates us on all things Paso.  Detailed Show Notes: Paso Robles wine region overviewHalfway between San Francisco and Los AngelesAlong the California Central Coast (Monterey to the North, Santa Barbara to the South), close to the Pacific Ocean41,000 vineyard acres, >600,000 acres total11 different AVA’s60+ different grape varieties~200 wineries, ~170 physical wineries~600-2,200 ft elevation for vineyardsPopulation - ~30,000 people in town, ~100,000 in countyUp to 100+F during the day, but cools off to 50F at night due to the impact of Estoro / Morro Bay creating invection fog through the Templeton GapRhone varietalsSyrah introduced by Gary Eberle in the late 1980s, early 1990’sTablas Creek (the Haas and Perrin families) - imported grapevines from the Rhone (Chateau Beaucastel, owned by Perrin’s) and propagatedTCV (Tablas Creek Vineyard clones) - shared these clones, jumpstarting the region to embrace Rhone varietiesPerrins chose Paso due to calcareous soils, similar to limestoneAVA’s - started in 1983 when Paso Robles AVA was createdYork Mountain was excluded because the owner of land in the area believed it was very different from the restSubmitted for all 11 AVA’s at once, took 7 years, approved in 2014Have conjunctive labeling law - wineries must include both sub-AVA and Paso Robles, which must be of equal or greater font sizePaso Robles Wine Country AllianceMission: promotion and preservation of Paso RoblesMarketing organization - preserve the Paso brand and brand integrityWorks with member wineries with educational toolsMarket Paso to different audiences - consumers, sommeliers/retail buyers, journalists (3rd party endorsement)Metrics that are measuredConsumer events - P&L, experience surveysAdvertising - reachArticles / PR - audience numbersMembers are primarily growers/vintners but capture the whole wine community, including hotels, restaurants, and associate memberships (e.g., suppliers like bottle or label manufacturers)Fees are a sliding scale based on case production or vineyard acreage, room count (for hotels)Almost all wineries are members - ~190 of 200 wineries are membersHave sponsorship opportunities for suppliers -> allows them to speak to the membersTrade & consumer eventsIn-market events are mostly budget neutralLocal events - profits help augment the operating budgetVolunteer participation for wineries, most have no fee (except for one annual event in Cambria)The geographic focus of promotionCalifornia (south of Paso is a big feeder market, Bay Area more challenging due to competition with Napa / Sonoma)TX, IL, NY, FL also importantExport - mostly Canada, and most activities through the Wine InstituteMost effective promotions are 3rd party endorsements / PR strategies - journalists, bloggers, etc.…Advertising more to get lots of eyeballs at onceHosts a weekly Zoom webinar - “Paso Wine Hour”Tell members to tell your own true story; Paso is full of mavericks and cowboys, no real rulesPaso Wine tries to layer up personalities of Paso in PR messagesPodcast - “Where Wine Takes You”The audience has mostly been driven organicallyAnecdotal evidence of driving sales, but no hard data yetMember educationHave a monthly education series - for growers, winemakers, tasting room managers, hospitalityBring in expert guests to provide educational tools for their businessesOne of the next ones - building a playbook on how to present your brand on digital platforms bestTourism important for the regi