Santa Barbara City Councilman Eric Friedman tapped into his biblical knowledge to anoint the moment at City Hall on Tuesday.
As the rain pelted the City Hall building, the City Council voted 7-0 to join a proposed Wine Business Improvement District.
"Today it is raining, so I am in full support, and when you pass this just remember you are turning today's water into tomorrow's wine," Friedman said to laughs from the crowd.
The Santa Barbara wine industry showed up Tuesday to support creating a Wine Business Improvement District, which would add a 1% assessment for wine sold directly to consumers at tasting rooms.
Proceeds from the new fee would fund the Santa Barbara County Vintners Association, now supported by members paying dues, and provide funding for marketing the wine region.
During the past several weeks, cities throughout Santa Barbara County have voted whether to join the association.
If approved by the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors next Tuesday, the SBC Wine BID is expected to generate about $1.65 million annually for the promotion of wine-tasting facilities specific to Santa Barbara County.
The Solvang, Buellton, Guadalupe, Santa Maria, Santa Barbara and Goleta city councils voted to support the BID.
Only Lompoc so far has opposed the district. On the night it voted, two members recused themselves and the three remaining voted 2-1, but the district needed support from a majority of all five members.
Now, Lompoc will be left out the wine tourism maps and other promotional materials.
The Santa Barbara City Council was all in for supporting the district.
"I certainly would not want our local winemakers left out of that," Councilwoman Meagan Harmon said.
"When industries can assess themselves and then have agency over how those assessments are used, I think we get better outcomes as a result," Councilwoman Kristen Sneddon said. "I am always amazed at industries that are willing to not ask what others can do for them, but what they can do for themselves."
Councilman Mike Jordan agreed.
"Anytime a group is willing to assess themselves for the betterment of themselves in the community, we should just get out of the way," Jordan said.
"Everyone in this room knows what a gem Santa Barbara is, both as a city and as a wine region," Ashley Parker Snider of Fess Parker Winery said. "But believe it or not, there are still folks out there who don't."
Parker Snider said that to make matters more difficult, the wine industry lately has been facing headwinds in the form of "seemingly endless road construction and traffic on Highway 101, changing consumption patterns, and competition from other wine regions."
"It's competitive out there," she said. "We need to get the word out that we grow and make world-class pinot noir, chardonnay, Syrah, and that we still have more stop signs than stop lights.
"The wine business is an integral part of our collective local economy."
Friedman added: "Our wine industry is magical."
If approved by the county Board of Supervisors, the wine district will have a five-year life, beginning on April 1.
Santa Barbara City Councilman Oscar Gutierrez urged the winemakers not to forget about the workers in the fields once they collect the money.
"I just hope that you all spend a little more time and put in a little more effort to voice the benefits of your business for your workforce," Gutierrez said. "I come from a family that came here to work picking fruit and grapes and think it is important that you represent them in some way. So, I hope with this revenue that you can do that."