SAMSARA
WINE CO
To: Goleta City Council via distribution: Robert Nisbet [email protected] and Dawn Christensen [email protected]
From: Joan and David Szkutak, SAMSARA Wine Co.
Date: January 24, 2025
RE: Wine Business Improvement District
Dear Goleta City Council,
As the sole winery and tasting room in Goleta, we are writing to support including the city of Goleta in the proposed Wine Business Improvement District (BID). We are a small, family-owned winery producing less than 4000 cases a year and are very dependent upon Direct to Consumer sales for our success.
Over 60% of the wineries in Santa Barbara County have signed a petition in support of the Wine BID.
Post-pandemic, all wine regions have struggled to draw visitors. The BID will allow us to vastly increase visibility for this important wine tasting destination. As the only winery & tasting room in Goleta, SAMSARA is often one of the first stops for guests when they fly into SBA or travel north from S. Cal. If Goleta excludes itself from the Wine BID, then by law the Association will not be permitted to promote the city or our winery, which would be a loss to our city and a huge loss for our winery.
The California Wine Institute determined the wine industry has a $1.7B economic impact on Santa Barbara County. For every dollar spent at a winery, $10 is spent in the local economy, for hotels, restaurants, and other local businesses. From 2018 - 2022 the Vintners Association used over $800,000 in marketing grants to increase winery retail sales by 49%. The BID stands to generate even more funding for promotion of our wine industry. For comparison, the Temecula wine region saw an 18% increase in visitation in the first year after they established their own Wine BID. In a time of concern and struggle for most wine regions, this marketing is crucial to our continued success.
The BID provides us with a 'rising tide lifts all boats' opportunity to improve the outlook of every one of our amazing producers. As the wine market grows increasingly competitive, if we want to stay ahead of competing regions like Paso Robles, Carmel Valley and Temecula, we will need to work collectively.
Thank you for your consideration, and please help us make Santa Barbara County the premiere wine destination in California.
Please feel free to reach out to either of us if you have any questions.
SAMSARA Wine Co.
[email protected] 513-828-9484
[email protected] 513-702-0693