Thanks for signing up to participate as a featured winery in The Wine Festival at The Plains

Winery participation in this event is limited in an effort to reduce winery competition and maximize ROI for each participating winery. Because we are limiting the number of wineries you will each have a double booth tasting bar from which to adequately service the crowd.

Please do not sign up for Farm Wineries Council events unless you intend to keep the commitment. We have had wineries sign up for all of our shows and then decide later if they really want to come. Even though we love ya, we have already purchased a very expensive venue and infrastructure for this event and will not be able to give full refunds. As soon as we receive your application our refund policy goes into affect. Partial refunds will be given based on number of days before the opening day of the show we receive your cancellation:

Wineries will be placed in large 40’x140’ tents for this event. Each winery will have at least a 24' tasting bar space. YOU MUST SUPPLY YOUR OWN TABLES according to our diagramed set-up and skirting covered to the ground for this event.

You must bring your own tables to form your wine tasting bar. Tables must be covered to the floor with your decorative table cloths.

Your inventory must be placed against the back of your space to form a “wall” and corridor between spaces.

Please unload your vehicle in the designated area as quickly as possible and immediately park your vehicle in the exhibitor parking area. Actual booth setup should begin only after your vehicle has been parked to ensure all exhibitors can get to their space in a timely manner.

o Decorative and functional items you would normally have on your tasting bar – pitchers for rinsing, oyster crackers, decorative containers for crackers, rinse bucket, floral accents, etc.

o A rinse bucket so people don’t have to leave your table during their tasting.

o Coolers for under the table and a tabletop chill bucket to showcase your whites.

o Bottle Openers, rags, water container and any other tools you normally use at your tasting bar

o Wine accessories and gift items from your tasting room if you would like to sell them at the fest.

o Company identification signage you would like to place. All signage must be professional in appearance (no hand-lettered signs).

ICE – Ice will be available for sale on the floor all day Saturday and Sunday.

WATER – Rinse tables will be positioned throughout the show floor for guest use. Potable water is also available on the floor and we do suggest that you provide a way for folks to rinse their glasses at your tasting table as well.

It is against Virginia law to serve alcohol to anyone under 21 years of age. The pourer is personally responsible for individuals they serve. If an individual is under the age of 21, the person who pours or sells them alcohol goes to jail. This is very serious business. Do not serve minors. The legal birth date for drinkers at this event must be prior to today's date, 1988.

WRIST-BANDS – Every guest eligible to do wine tastings wine at this event will be wearing a colored wristband. We'll let you know the color of the day each day of the event. The Definition of "tastings" is sampling any wine before making a purchase.

New info - we have added a new ticket - GENERAL ADMISSION - General admission guests do not get to sample any wines but they will be able to purchase wine to drink at the event without doing tastings. They will be wearing white wristbands. Do not serve tastings to anyone wearing a wrist (no color) wristband. You may check ID and sell wine by the sealed bottle only to people over the age of 21 wearing a white wristband.

ID CHECK - We try diligently to ensure no one gets into the event without properly being checked, but on occasion a wristband gets onto the wrong wrist. If you are ever in doubt of someone’s age, ask “Are you over 21?” then ask to see proof in the form of a drivers license or other legal identification document (a business card is not proof).

TASTERS VS DESIGNATED DRIVERS – Only “tasters” equipped with the properly colored wristband are permitted to do tastings at this event. Do not allow any guest to give alcohol to a second person.

WINE VALET SERVICE WILL BE PROVIDED AT THIS EVENT

Guests who make large purchases and do not wish to carry wine around the show floor will be able to leave their wine where they buy it (in your booth) at this event. They will receive a claim check from you, just as if they were checking a coat. Wine valets will pick up the wine and transport it to a wine pick up area in the parking lot. When they are ready to exit they can drive up and pick up their wine. This service is provided so that our guests can enjoy the day and make purchases without lugging boxes around the show floor or running back and forth to the car.

MOVE OUT IS 6:15pm SUNDAY, SEP 12,2010

Please know that by signing your contract to participate in this event you have contractually committed to attend and serve tastings for the entire duration of the event. Guests and other exhibitors expect to have the event intact through the duration of the show.

We have had several wineries who have sold out early and not been able to service guests to the end of the event. That is exactly what we work to have happen! However, you will not be able to vacate your space until 6pm on Sunday even if you have sold out. Please bring extra marketing materials and tasting room gift items you can sell in the hopeful instance that you have sold all of your wine before the show is over.

Wineries who pack up and move out of the field earlier than 6:15pm on Sunday, Sep 12, 2010, will be charged a $1000 penalty for vacating the field early and will not be accepted to exhibit and sell wine at any future Farm Wineries Council events.

MARKETING OF OTHER EVENTS

We love to help out the Virginia wine industry in any way we can. If you have postcards for an upcoming Virginia Wine Event you are participating in, you are welcome to pass them out from your booth at our show, with a few exceptions:

Marketing material for the "Virginia Wine Festival" is not welcome at our events. You may not have any material promoting Virginia Wine Festival or ASWA / VWGA in any way in your booth, including medals from the Atlantic Seaboard Wine competition. As you may know, we produced the Virginia Wine Festival in its Morven Park years. In 2007 the Atlantic Seaboard Wine Association (ASWA) formerly Vinifera Wine Growers Association (VWGA) stiffed us with over $32,000 in outstanding bills for police, security, transport and glasses which we had to pay to suppliers out of our personal savings. After 2 years of trying to be reimbursed nicely and subsequent litigation, in April 2010 The Atlantic Seaboard Wine Association (ASWA / VWGA) was ordered by a judge in the Alexandria Circuit Court (Case CL09-3486) to reimburse us for those expenses within 30 days. To date they have not complied with the court order.
Marketing material or promotion in any form for Washington Wine Academy is not welcome at any of our events. As you know WWA is one of those entities that uses wine festivals as a profit making event for their organization by coordinating transportation by bus for guests from metro stations. In 2008 WWA brought 670 people to our event then "forgot the checkbook" to pay for over $8200.00 of entrance fees collected by WWA for tickets to the event. Silly us - we trustingly dispursed the tickets in advance on the honor system that the fees would be paid before the end of the event. It took 2 years, a judge in Leesburg Court ordering payment, and then garnishment of WWA accounts to get paid for the 670 people WWA let in to our event. The big excuse on the transcripts is priceless - WWA didn't pay because they were having a recession.
We do not allow exhibitors to bring other people's products or materials, including magazines, to distribute from their booth. If a magazine or any other company would like to reach the audience we have spent tons of money on bringing to our event, they can purchase a booth and help share the costs like the rest of us.