Lions Club to sell desserts from Ladera Grill at Morgan Hill Cellars
Published in the March 19-April 1, 2014 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Staff Report
As the hills surrounding the South Valley turn verdant, visitors and local residents alike will travel the country roads of the region March 29 and 30 to partake of the popular Spring Passport Weekend event.
“It’s very festive. Everyone’s out to have good time,” said Greg Richtarek, president of the Wineries of Santa Clara Valley which puts on the Passport Weekend event every fall and spring. “It’s a nice draw where you have your ticket and your passport and that’s your gateway to tasting wine at all the wineries. We don’t encourage that you do all 21 wineries in a weekend, but at least people have two days to take their time and visit the wineries that they want to visit.”
Participating wineries in the South Valley region include: Aver Family Vineyard, Casa de Fruta Winery, Creekview Vineyards, Fortino Winery, Guglielmo Winery, Hecker Pass Winery, Kirigin Cellars, Lightheart Cellars, Mann Cellars, Martin Ranch Winery, Morgan Hill Cellars, Rapazzini Winery, Sarah’s Vineyard, Satori Vineyards, Solis Winery, Sunlit Oaks Winery, and Thomas Kruse Winery.
Other Santa Clara County wineries that will take part in the Passport Weekend events are: Cooper-Garrod Estate Vineyards in Saratoga, and J. Lohr Vineyards and Wines in San Jose.
People come from the entire Bay Area to enjoy the local wineries, Richtarek said. “We’re getting people from the South Bay, West Valley, the Peninsula, the East Bay,” he said. “We’re starting to get a few people from San Francisco coming down. People are coming from Salinas as well and Monterrey County.”
One of the reasons that the wineries hold the Passport Weekend event is to bring people into the region and introduce them to Santa Clara Valley wines and the people who make them.
The passports have really been gaining in popularity over the last three or four years, Richtarek said. Each year, the wineries have seen a 10 percent increase in traffic from the year before, he said.
“It’s really growing,” he said. “We’re also seeing a lot of new people come into the region which is really important. It’s great to have people like our wineries and come down and take advantage of our event. But we also like to see new faces and we’re seeing more and more of those.”
The wineries have also experienced a higher rate of people purchasing their passports ahead of the weekend. “Obviously you can come down on Saturday or Sunday and go to your first winery and buy your passport and get your commemorative glass,” Richtarek said. “But we’re seeing an increase in pre-sale in passports.”
The various participating wineries will hold wine-related events during Passport Weekend such as winery tours, special discounts, new releases, and music, he said.
“It’s best to check each winery’s website to see exactly what they’re going to be doing such as whether they’re going to have live music and what kinds of food they’re going to be offering and stuff like that,” he said.
Among the special events during the Passport Weekend, members of the Morgan Hill chapter of the Lions Club will sell desserts at Morgan Hill Cellars to raise money for scholarships for local high school students on both days.
The desserts will be donated by downtown restaurant Ladera Grill. BookSmart and Morgan Hill Cellars will provide the ingredients for raspberry wine sundaes.
The Passport Weekend event goes from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days.
Tickets for the event are $30 per person and can be purchased at any of the participating winery as well as the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce office in downtown Morgan Hill and the Gilroy Welcome Center at the Gilroy Premium Outlets.
