DelMonte: Good news for wineries

Lewiston Porter Sentinel, June 24, 2006

Assemblywoman Francine DelMonte, D-Lewiston, announced that a bill she introduced providing for the commissioner of transportation to install and maintain signs guiding traffic to the “Niagara Wine Trail East” has passed the Assembly.

“The Niagara Wine Trail has been extremely successful in helping Niagara County wineries attract customers. This signage expansion would draw attention to the trail and make it easier for visitors to navigate. In addition, the new signs could encourage additional wineries to open along the trail,” DelMonte said.

The signs would be installed:

•Along Route 18 in Orleans County within one mile of the Niagara-Orleans County line.

•The intersection of Route 18 and Route 269

•The intersection of Route 18 and Route 78

•The intersection of Route 18 and Route 425

•The intersection of Route 104 and Route 269

DelMonte also announced that grants are available to help wineries and vineyards to create or update their Web sites. Under the program, wineries and vineyards may apply for matching grants of up to $2,500 to help promote their products on the Internet. There are many projects that would be eligible for the grant, including age verification software, a shopping cart feature and graphics.

“I hope these grants will help wineries to take advantage of doors that were opened when New York began allowing the direct interstate shipment of wine last year. Since the law was enacted, only 25 percent of wineries have sold to out-of-state residents. New and improved Web sites will help businesses to reach out to customers, and in turn, will help to promote Niagara County as a producer of world-class wines,” DelMonte said.