It’s probably pretty apparent that two of the things I feel quite passionate about are our downtown and our local wine region. So my excitement about the upcoming Wine & Food Week and the April 28 Wine Stroll shouldn’t come as any surprise.
The Morgan Hill Downtown Association and the local wineries of the Wineries of Santa Clara Valley wine association have been working on promoting local wines in our downtown businesses, and our downtown businesses in the region’s wineries.
That pairing between local wineries and restaurants is a work in progress. The recent March Passport Friday Night Kick-off Event put on by the wine association and upcoming Wine & Food Week are great examples of just that work.
That Friday Night Kick off event featured 10 of our downtown restaurants and 24 wineries in a collaborative event that brought in more than 200 guests on a rainy evening. It was a smashing success.
Starting this upcoming Monday, April 23, we will celebrate our local wines in our downtown with a mixer showing our appreciation for the winemakers. The rest of the week, we’ll be featuring events where a business will host a winery for that most important personal contact.
Having attended several winemaker dinners and food/wine tasting events, I can tell you that short of sitting at a winery with the winemaker and a wonderful meal, this is the best way to get to know and learn about our local wines.
It’s also one of the best ways to get to know our fine local restaurants and drinking establishments.
Most of the winemaker dinners feature custom designed menus that really allow our restaurants to show how creative they can be with a special menu.
I’m not one to continually break out my smartphone to take pictures of the food, wine and the festive setting of the meals and tastings, but I have a hard time not wanting to share these experiences.
We’ll have dinners and tastings at Bubbles Wine Bar & Bistro, Granada Theater, La Nina Perdida, Odeum Restaurant, Prova California Table, Rosy’s at the Beach and The Grapevine. Most of the downtown restaurants won’t charge you when you bring in your favorite bottle of local wine too.
This will be the region’s best example of fine food and wine served up in one week, and it’s all right here in our downtown!
On Saturday, April 28, our Wine Stroll caps the week of celebrating food and wine. This event continues to break new ground with a focus on local wines and bringing in fun new features like an art competition to create the next year’s event poster. Of course, the focus will be our local businesses with our local wineries pouring tastes.
Wine & Food Week starts Monday, April 23, and culminates with the Wine Stroll on Saturday, April 28.
For more information, visit morganhilldowntown.org. John McKay is president of the Morgan Hill Downtown Association, city planning commissioner and co-founder of the Morgan Hill Tourism Alliance. He can be reached at
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