Trolley will guide Brentwood winery visitors this spring

Trolleys will guide visitors to Brentwood’s wineries in a weekend pilot program the city has agreed to fund this spring to bring more attention to the growing viticulture region.

Under the agreement, the city will partner with Contra Costa Wine Growers’ Association, giving the group $15,500 to help pay for trolleys and marketing for the 2020 Wine Passport Weekend, which is set for May 1617. The first day will feature tastings at a winery in Martinez, but the trolleys will only be used on the final day, which will include nine wineries in the Brentwood area.

Guests who purchase a $25 Wine Passport ticket, can park for free, and then board trolleys that will pick up and drop them off at the wineries as well as downtown Brentwood on the final day of the festival.

The pilot program seeks to encourage repeat and new visitors, to explore local wineries using the courtesy shuttle, according to city analyst Peggy Berglund.

“We would really like to make this a fun, memorable weekend for visitors,” Berglund said during a recent council meeting. “….We believe adding an experience will take it up a notch and bring in more visitors.

“What we’re doing here is trying to promote local wineries, promote tourism through having an experience and draw out our local residents to participate in Passport Weekend and draw visitors to Brentwood.”

The Agricultural Enterprise Committee, part of the city’s Brentwood Agricultural Business Program, recommended the trolleys as a way to promote agritourism, she said. Funding will come from agricultural mitigation funds, which are collected from developers and can only be used for agricultural purposes, Berglund said.

John Viano of the Contra Costa Wine Growers Association said his group tried to keep ticket prices low to encourage more participants, which he said has doubled from the previous year.

“The wine industry of Contra Costa County is evolving back,” he said. “There was a time it was a pretty vibrant industry, and in 2000, it started to come back. There was a long hiatus if you will. We are trying to get people involved again in what can be another vibrant business.”

East County wineries participating this year include Bloomfield Vineyards, Tamayo Family Vineyards, Campos Family Vineyards, CoCo County Wine Company, McCauley Estate Vineyards, Petersen Vineyards,

Hannah Nicole Vineyards, Nunn Family Vineyards and Favalora.

Last fall the council also agreed to launch a study of a pilot program that would bring free trolleys to guide visitors to area U-Pick farm stands as part of its Brentwood Agricultural Business Program. The city estimates that between 180,000 to 200,000 visitors come to the area to pick fresh fruits and vegetables at the local farms during the U-Pick season. A trolley could help relieve parking and traffic issues as well as help connect visitors with other local businesses, city leaders said.

Logistical problems with the U-Picks, though, made it more feasible to run a trolley on a smaller scale, Berglund said. The Wine Passport Weekend trolley allows staff to do just that, testing the feasibility by using only wineries, she said.

One resident, April VanBuskirk, spoke in favor of the trolleys, saying it would improve safety on heavily trafficked public roads on Wine Passport festival day.

“I really, really love the idea of this trolley,” she said. “I have not participated in this event because I do not believe in drinking and driving….I really encourage you to do this because I think it’s good for the safety of the community. I could just hitch a ride on that (trolley) it’s much much more appealing. I would go to it.”

Mayor Bob Taylor also said he loved the idea of a wine trolley for the Brentwood area.

“It’s fun to ride a trolley,” he said just before the council gave its unanimous nod to the expenditure. “This should be a no-brainer.”