A special tasting of award-winning wines will be held April 24

Published in the April 1-14, 2015 issue of Morgan Hill Life

By Raquel Crowell

Raquel Crowell

Raquel Crowell

The Morgan Hill Downtown Association is proud to present our third annual Wine Week, a series of events that starts Sunday, April 19, and culminates in the popular Wine Stroll Saturday, April 25.

During Wine Week the downtown will become the place of special wine pairing of foods and complete dinners, various wine education opportunities, and entertainment. All of these events are the creation of the individual businesses who have been encouraged to bring wine and their business together in a special way to celebrate our relationship with the local wine industry.

Started in 2013 to help promote the local wineries and our downtown businesses, downtown Morgan Hill’s Wine Week has expanded to match the explosive growth in popularity of our local restaurants and wineries. This year the local wine association, Wineries of Santa Clara Valley, has been involved in helping to make this the best Wine Week so far — and you’ll definitely see the results. With multiple events every night, we are confident we have something for everyone who enjoys the magic of good food and wine. We even have something for the opera lover.

Bubbles Wine Bar will lead the week off with five nights of special events. Ladera Grill and Odeum Restaurant will host winemaker dinners on Tuesday. On Wednesday Rosy’s at the Beach and The Good Fork will host their dinners while Betto’s Bistro will feature dessert, wine and opera — the Castillo family will sing and maybe help pour their wines. Thursday night Noah’s Bar and Bistro will host its first wine pairing dinner along with Bubbles Wine Bar who will also host its first wine paired dinner during Wine Week.

Almost all the events represent opportunities to spend time with the local winemakers. These are fantastic chances to spend some time with those who love to share their passion for their work. This is another part of Wine Week that is so special.

We also need to celebrate as this is already proving to be a banner year for our wineries in state-wide competitions. The San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition is recognized as one of the biggest and most prestigious wine competitions and our local wineries brought home more than 90 medals, including the best in class and double golds that many usually think of hanging in a Napa winery’s trophy case.

To celebrate our local winery’s successes we now have “Our Award Winning Wine Region Celebration” event Friday April 24. At this two-hour event we will host 12 of the local wine association’s wineries, most of them the award winners this year pouring their premium wines. Alongside the wineries will be seven of our finest downtown restaurants serving up food that will help you better appreciate the fine wines being poured. This will be a premium event where we want the lucky 200 ticket holders to experience what Santa Clara Valley wines and Morgan Hill cuisine are all about when they are moved center stage.

Please set some time aside to enjoy our downtown and the wonderful work of our local wineries. We want you come to dine, drink and shop responsibly (well, maybe you can shop irresponsibly).

For more information visit the Morgan Hill Downtown Association website at www.morganhilldowntown.org.

Raquel Crowell is the Morgan Hill Downtown Association’s office manager.