Two of Sonoma County’s industry giants, wine and weed, will come together in a day-long professional symposium this August.
The Wine Industry Network (WIN) announced today that they’ll host a one-day intensive educational conference focused on some of the commonalities of the multi-million dollar businesses, from agriculture and terroir to regulations and legal, financial and distribution regulations. The announcement comes after WIN hosted a one-hour Wine & Weed session at their wine industry conference in Santa Rosa last December.
“People have been questioning the impact that this is going to have on the wine industry for a long time,” said George Christie, President of Wine Industry Network. “This is an opportunity to learn from the experts, the cost of entry and what is and is not allowed. We plan to provide a better understanding of the inevitable competition for consumer attention and how best to prepare for what’s coming and what new opportunities might exist.”
Tawnie Logan, Executive Director of the Sonoma County Growers Alliance, will discuss the newly-implemented recreational usage laws, along with experts from both the wine and cannabis industries on regulations, licensing requirements, hospitality, tourism, and farming.
Other topics of interest to both industries include growing cannabis in vineyards, cannabis and wine hospitality, learning from wineries in states where cannabis is legal, cannabis infused wine, the banking industry and what wine regions can expect in the coming years.
“The Cannabis and Wine Industry have more in common than what one might see at first glance. Both industries are based in rural areas with a major emphasis on agriculture and quality. Place of origin / AVA is an important differentiator for both categories, states the symposium website.
“To a significant degree, they share a common consumer and will be overseen by the same government agency. Like the wine industry, the cannabis industry will also be heavily regulated and because of that, will experience tremendous overlap with regard to legal, financial, compliance and distribution regulations,” said reps on the website.
“Both will compete for visitor attention and dollars in California’s most notable wine regions like Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino, Lake, Humboldt, San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles, Lodi Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz counties as well as the Sierra Foothills and more,” the website adds.
The one-day conference will take place August 3 from 9a.m. to 4p.m. at the Hyatt Vineyard Creek in Santa Rosa.
For more details, go to wine-weed.com.
