Sonoma County Vintners group chief to step down

The top official with Sonoma County Vintners, the major advocacy and promotional trade group for the county’s wineries, announced Wednesday she will leave the organization after almost nine years on the job.

Executive Director Honore Comfort will leave her position by Jan. 31. It follows the Tuesday departure of Sara Cummings, director of marketing communications.

In an interview, Comfort said she is leaving on her volition after nine years in the challenging job and has been already been contacted by potential future employers. In the post, she had to coordinate with members in the county’s 16 different recognized wine regions, large and small wineries, grape growers and tourism officials to present a simple and unified marketing message for the more than $13 billion industry.

“I know she was executive director ... but she was also brand manager and chief marketer, even though it wasn’t technically her title,” said Jeff Bundschu, president of Gundlach-Bundschu Winery and a board member of the vintners’ group.

Bundschu noted that Comfort helped recruit his Sonoma Valley winery back to the group after it previously left the organization. “The county got really serious about the perception of its wine,” he said. “That was her vision.”

Comfort said she had been working “very closely” with the board over the past few months to establish a transition process for her successor. A private firm will conduct a nationwide search, and the board hopes to name a successor before year’s end.

“We have achieved more than we could ever imagine after nine years,” Comfort said. “I’m looking forward to the next series of challenges in the wine industry.”

Board President Corey Beck, general manager of Francis Ford Coppola Winery, said directors were shocked when Comfort told them that she planned to leave but noted she was gracious enough to provide them with a lengthy transition period. “She was phenomenal. You start thinking about the things she has done throughout the years,” Beck said.

Comfort said that Cummings “is moving on to new opportunities.” Cummings declined to comment. None of the group’s seven other employees are leaving, Comfort said.

The board has expressed its desire to strengthen its efforts in digital marketing in the future, expanding into areas such as social media and video, Comfort said.

The group, founded in 1944, represents more than 250 wineries and related-businesses and its board members come from such high-profile wineries as E&J Gallo Winery, Jackson Family Wines and Rodney Strong Vineyards. It has a budget of $1 million.

The personnel changes come after the organization co-hosted the Sonoma County Wine Country Weekend with the Sonoma Valley Vintners & Growers Alliance over the Labor Day weekend. The event’s Sonoma Harvest Wine Auction raised more than $4 million for county charities, tripling 2013’s take of $1.5 million.

Comfort came to Sonoma County Vintners in January 2006 after working as senior group brand manager for Fosters Wine Estates. She played a major role in helping the group merge its Taste of Sonoma event with the wine auction held by the Sonoma Valley Vintners & Growers Alliance, creating a full weekend event that garnered more visitors and attention.

She also helped launched a branding campaign for Sonoma County wines and played a major role on advancing legislation that requires all wines produced from Sonoma County grapes to be clearly identified on the wine label.

Earlier this year, she traveled with other county winemakers to China to help promote Sonoma wines as part of a trip organized by the California Wine Institute. She noted at the time that county wines were “a blip on the radar” in China, considered the most important emerging market in the wine industry.

The county has an estimated 550 wineries, and the wine industry’s economic impact was estimated at $13.4 billion in 2012.

You can reach Staff Writer Bill Swindell at 521-5223 or bill.swindell@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @BillSwindell.