Chalone Vineyard, a California-based Diageo brand, has signed a three-year deal to be the official wine of the PGA of America. The sponsorship will enable Chalone to integrate its wines into PGA of America events, while also gaining access to the group’s 27,000 PGA pros and the 10,000 PGA-staffed facilities that are affiliated with the association. “This is a category we’ve been looking at,” said PGA of America Senior Dir of Business Development Kevin Carter. “We had this space open for a couple of years and this is a good match. Chalone has done some golf marketing in the past and with the events we have plus all of the clubhouses and corporate events we have, it’s a good fit in the golf space. There’s the idea that we’ll also do some wine-tasting around some of our events.” Financial terms of the deal were not available, but there is a cash component from Chalone as well as access to work with clubs on how to market and sell wine. Chalone will provide wine education programming, tips for selling wine on site and other hospitality ideas. Chalone, founded in 1919, is the oldest vineyard in Monterey County, Calif.
