ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we examine how wineries in North Carolina have embraced wine tourism as a way to build brand identity. By leveraging their location within a network or cluster of wineries, they hope to gain visibility and attract visitors to their tasting rooms. This is not dissimilar to the goals of wineries in other regions, especially smaller ones that focus upon a majority of sales directly from tasting rooms, thus bypassing more costly distribution networks. However, we focus upon a specific aspect of wine tourism – the promotion of weddings, banquets and wine trails – that appears quite prominent amongst some NC wineries. We discuss the extent to which resources are allocated to such activities and how this constitutes a slightly different concept of wine tourism to that with which most people are familiar. In other words it is the pastoral setting that becomes the focus of activities, supplementing wine making both financially and quite possibly in overall strategic intent. We conclude with a critical assessment of what such endeavors might portend for the regional industry as it continues to grow.
