Signs, Signs, Nowhere Are There Signs

In Indiana, this is the sign you see along the road to let you know a winery is near. (This picture, taken from Indiana Wines website, is the sign directing you to Easley Winery, I believe from the Ohio Street ramp off of I-65.) There are also blue "tourist marker" signs that one sees directing you with specificity to a particular winery or other popular spots.

However, you may have noticed that not all Indiana wineries get such signage. On several recent tasting trips, I have been downright frustrated by the difficulty in navigating to a rural winery, especially when I am accustomed to looking for signs like you see on the right. I have always ended up finding the winery. But how many people decide to take a detour from their drive to visit a winery off the beaten path, only to be frustrated and turned back by lack of signage?

In speaking with winemakers over the past several months, I have asked several, via email or in person, why they lack signage. The answers range from mystification to anger.

I contacted Jeanette Merritt with the Indiana Wine Grapes Council to see what the qualifications were for the signage. She was kind enough to respond. She confirmed what a few winemakers had already told me-that a winery must have regular operating hours to receive signs. This is defined by being open at least five days a week, six hours a day.

This is obviously bone-headed, given that the costs associated with the start ups require most beginners to continue to work in their primary jobs during the week.

I should note Ms. Merritt's positions in this issue is neutral, since the IWGC cannot get involved in government or agency decisions such as this. The blame for this rests purely with the Department of Transportation.

I have been, and still am, very critical of wineries not having a website, or of not maintaining said website. There is just no excuse for it, especially considering how cheap it is to have a website.

However, on this issue, the government is entirely at fault. The government controls the easement near the highways, allowing them to help market wineries in ways that not even a website can. Plenty of other signs have hours on their sign as well, so one does not need to worry about visitors driving up without some idea of the hours. This can be done at no charge to the winery. The costs can easily be offset by the increased traffic and revenue the sign will bring to the State's coffers.

Wineries don't have this same luxury. In order to put a sign up near the road in the State's easement, you must obtain permission from the State. This, like any other sort of government action, is a pain in the rear, complete with meetings and specifications. The alternative is to find someone with land in a good location, and get their permission to display your sign on their land. If they allow it, you will probably have to pay rent. The other problem with several of Indiana's smaller wineries is that they tend to be more rural areas where the citizens might not be so keen to advertise a winery. One winemaker told this was case with them. The pleas to get some signage in the easement went unanswered, or were answered with a simple letter citing the rule mentioned above. No compromise, no offer to help, no other alternatives being proposed, just a simple form letter.

I am constantly amazed at the fact that the State just doesn't get the basics of marketing here. For all their talk about promoting agritourism (see here, here, here, and here, just to start) they forget that a small amount of publicity can reap big rewards. The rewards are even greater when the signage is pretty much permanent, assuming the sign doesn't blow away.

Not being able to see the forest for the trees. Our government at work once again.