Armed with new grant money, the California Highway Patrol will try to keep Santa Barbara County's burgeoning wine tourism from going too far “Sideways” into alcohol-related crime.

That was the message Friday from the county's CHP commanders and the Santa Barbara County Vintners Association, as the two groups announced a $658,000 state grant to better educate winemakers and wine drinkers about how to avoid drunken driving.

Announced at a spot overlooking the green vineyards of the Gainey Winery near Santa Ynez, the “education and enforcement” grant, entitled Stop DUI II, is funded through the California Office of Traffic Safety. It will be used for the next 10 months by the Santa Barbara, Santa Maria and Buellton CHP stations, according to Santa Barbara area commander Jeff Sgobba.

The grant will help establish an instructional course for the employees of the more than 90 tasting rooms in the county on how to encourage designated driving, the effects of alcohol on the body, and how to identify an inebriated patron.

Overtime funding will also help CHP officers to conduct roving DUI patrols and additional sobriety checkpoints.

Other portions of the grant funding will allow CHP to better monitor the “wine bus” industry for safety and proper licensing. The funds will also help the CHP keep more detailed records on alcohol-involved accidents, of which the county had 607 last year.

“Before, we really weren't keeping track of where the DUIs were coming from,” Sgobba said.

Advertisement

State Assemblyman Pedro Nava and 1st District county Supervisor Salud Carbajal, this year's Board of Supervisors chairman, spoke at the event. They both emphasized the importance of cooperation between the business community and law enforcement to help the thousands of wine tourists who come to Santa Barbara County to “recreate safely.”

“We want all of them to get home safely after their experience,” Nava said.

Wine tourism has increased in the county since the 2004 movie “Sideways” portrayed two Southern California friends working their way through their midlife crises as they drank their way through Santa Barbara County tasting rooms.

Bret Davenport, manager for Buttonwood Winery, spoke as a board member of the Vintners Association, saying that the industry recognized the need to promote responsible drinking. For instance, the association's two largest annual events both feature reward programs for designated drivers.

“Our hope is that this grant can make that a more robust part of these events,” Davenport said, pledging the association's support for the CHP's effort.

3rd District Supervisor Brooks Firestone also spoke briefly at the press conference, referring to his own history as a winemaker, with vineyards not far from Gainey's. He said the growing popularity of the region had brought with it new challenges.

The grant program “brings things back into perspective,” said Firestone, whose district includes the Santa Ynez Valley.

The CHP grant will fund enforcement and education activities through Dec. 31, after which Sgobba said it would be the responsibility of the vintners to continue the education program.

“I think it's very much a trend in law enforcement, with people taking ownership of their own communities, because we can't be everywhere,” Sgobba said.

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department, in cooperation with the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, has been using a separate state grant to conduct a similar education program, with more than 300 winery staff members having participated already.

“The wineries are dedicated to the safety programs as much as we are,” Tipolt said.

“We educate winery staff on the do's and don'ts, basically how to spot someone who's under age, check IDs, see who's intoxicated,” said Sgt. Alex Tipolt of the Sheriff's Department.

The ABC grant has also funded a series of underage drinking decoy operations in retail stores and tasting rooms since December.

In the most recent operation, conducted Feb. 16, clerks in three tasting room were cited for serving alcohol to a minor.

Glenn Wallace can be reached at 737-1059 or gwallace@santamariatimes.com.

March 1, 2008