OJAI : Private-Label Wine Promotes Festival

Organizers of the 47th annual Ojai Festival have uncorked an unusual marketing ploy to help attract new patrons and celebrate the three-day concert series: They commissioned Martin Brothers Winery of Paso Robles to issue a private-label wine commemorating the June event.

Fifty cases of 1991 California Chardonnay were delivered late last month to the festival office and, to hear organizers tell it, there won’t be any left come opening night June 4.

“They’re selling like hot cakes,” said Jackie Saunders, an Ojai Festival administrator. “We’ll make a little money on it this year, but this is a test market. Next year we’ll order many more cases.”

Festival sponsors came up with the idea earlier this year as a way to spotlight the annual event and give people something to remember it by.

The yearly festival, which showcases contemporary composers from around the country, attracts thousands to the outdoor amphitheater in Libbey Park.

“It’s a little pilot project to see whether or not it would sell,” Saunders said. “Every year we make a lot of concession items like T-shirts as visual reminders to increase our profile in the community.”

The Chardonnay is being sold primarily at the Attitude Adjustment Shoppe, a small liquor and bottle shop just outside downtown Ojai.

“We’ve got about 33 cases left, “ said shop owner Les Gardner.

The winery charges $12 a bottle for its version of the Chardonnay at its tasting room, but offered the fruity blend at wholesale prices to the Ojai Festival, which is asking $9.95 a bottle, said Martin Brothers spokeswoman Cynthia Reed.

“The Martin brothers grew up in Ojai,” she said. “They believe in the community and they helped start up the festival years ago, so it’s close to their heart.”

Festival marketing director Ronda La Rue said she already is planning to quadruple the number of cases for next year’s order.

“We still have to be conservative, though, because we don’t have a cash flow that can sustain that kind of cost,” she said. “We’re also testing the idea of broadening out into other kinds of wine like Cabernet.”