The widely read Food and Wine magazine, in its April issue in an article on “The World’s 30 Best Pinot Noirs,” selected local winery Woodenhead as one of the top producers of the popular red. The magazine had the following to say about Humboldt County’s wine region:

“Humboldt County isn’t known as one of the state’s top regions for wine grapes, but if Woodenhead’s bright, raspberry-rich bottling is any indication, perhaps there ought to be more vineyards there.”

Capitalizing on that exact notion is the North Coast Small Business Development Center, which has partnered with 22 local wineries through a grant from the Headwaters Fund to be used for promoting the growing local wine industry.

“The industry is coming to a point that they want to come together as a group to do their promotion and marketing,” Connie Lorenzo, director of special programs for the SBDC, said. The idea, Lorenzo explained, is to capitalize on local tourism by saying, “Coming to Humboldt? Coming to the wine is yet another reason. We can now claim it as an emerging wine destination.”

“Our project is in helping the wineries organize themselves and organize what they want to do as a group on behalf of the Humboldt wine region,” and to get the word out about how “Humboldt wines are a really good value,” Lorenzo said. “They are very good and very reasonable because they’re a young, emerging industry here and young, emerging wineries.”

With a portion of the funding, a consultant was hired from Windsor, Elizabeth Slater, who has experience working in wine region promotion and marketing wineries from all over the country.

“The thinking so far is to culminate in a Web site about buying Humboldt wines direct,” she explained. The Web site would have a map, a list of all the wineries in the area and links to each individual winery’s own Web page, where visitors can find out how to buy from them directly. It would also have directions to the local wineries that have tasting rooms already open, such as Riverbend Cellars in Meyer’s Flat and Fieldbrook Winery.

“It is an emerging industry, and some are really remote,” Lorenzo said of Humboldt County wineries. “The ones you can visit are really beautiful settings, but not overly fussy — they remind me of some of what used to be the ‘undiscovered areas’ in the wine country — like Anderson Valley.”

The natural and diverse environment of Humboldt County is something that Lorenzo said she feels sets it apart from other wine regions in the state. “Some wineries are on a rural countryside that isn’t so pastoral and manicured, but more natural, more rugged and more individualistic.”

The natural environment lends itself to the emergence of organic wine making, as well, Lorenzo said — which several vintners have already implemented in their wine-making process.

“They’re really committed to the fully organic wines and process in addition to growing organic grapes,” she said of such wineries as Coates Vineyards and Old Growth Cellars.

In addition to the consortium’s Web site, information cards will be made available at local visitor centers, restaurants, hotels and other local tourist stops.

With the Humboldt County wine project scheduled to be completed in August, Lorenzo expects word of the county’s wines to travel fast as the promotional season begins with several upcoming wine-tasting events in the area.

“Humboldt wines are very good wines and very good value,” Lorenzo said. “We want to promote the idea, ‘When you visit, taste the wine — take the wine home.’”

For more information on upcoming wine-tasting events or on the Humboldt County wine project, phone the SBDC at 707-445-9057.

Several upcoming events will be taking place at local wineries in the spirit of promoting the excellent wines that call Humboldt County home.

Over Memorial Day weekend from noon to 5 p.m., a free wine-tasting event will take place in Southern Humboldt at the wineries of Briceland Vineyards, Elk Prairie Vineyards and Riverbend Cellars.

On the following weekend of May 31 and June 1, from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. will be the Willow Creek spring barrel tasting, allowing tasters a sneak preview of upcoming vintages from four vineyards in the east county appellation. For $25, tasters will get a map, a commemorative wineglass, wine tasting, hors d’oeuvres and the chance to talk to winemakers at each of their scenic wineries. Funds from the tasting benefit Dream Quest, a vocational youth center located in Willow Creek.

On June 6, the fourth annual Art, Cheese and Wine Festival will take place at the Morris Graves Museum of Art from 5 to 8 p.m. It will include a wine and cheese tasting and a silent auction. More than 14 Humboldt County wineries and two cheese producers will be on hand. Tickets are $25 per person.