On Tuesday, the Brentwood City Council unanimously approved helping fund a wine trolley with the Contra Costa Wine Growers Association for the 2020 Wine Passport Weekend in May.
The reimbursement agreement will cost the city just $15k after being recommended by the Agricultural Enterprise Committee through the Brentwood Agricultural Business Program. It will include 3 trolleys, marketing and promotional materials.
The trolley would begin in the downtown area on Sunday, May 16 and rotate every 30-minutes between the downtown and wineries between 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. Staff said the trolley would be free for guests.
For 2020, the 5th Annual Wine Passport Weekend will be held on the weekend of May 16-17, with the East Region tastings (Brentwood) occurring on Sunday, May 17th. Multiple wineries such as Bloomfield Vineyards, Tamayo Family Vineyards, Campos Family Vineyards, CoCo County Wine Company, McCauley Estate Vineyards, Petersen Vineyards, Hannah Nicole Vineyards as well as Nunn Family Vineyards, and Favalora will be participating.
According to staff, they explained Tuesday night they believed by creating an experience and bringing the event up a notch, it would attract more visitors by promoting local wineries, promoting tourism, draw local residents, and utilize cross-promotion.
John Viano of the Contra Costa Wine Growers Association explained to the council they have tried to keep their ticket prices low to get more people involved with the event which has allowed them to grow each year.
“Each year we have just about doubled in participants, even last year considering the weather we increased by another 30 participants. We are hopefully the trolley’s will is going to add an additional attraction to the event itself,” said Viano.
Brentwood Mayor Bob Taylor toward his council “this should be a no brainer” which the council all agreed. The council then voted 5-0 in support of the item.
For more information on the upcoming Passport Weekend, visit: www.cccwines.com
