The season is winding down for those wonderful outdoor festivals. We only have a few events left, and then we’ll have to nourish our adventurous souls on memories or become more pack-like and venture out in small groups of friends and families over the winter.
I realize that going out to these festivals is not for everyone, but I think they do hold something for just about everyone.
There’s usually some food and some form of adult beverages, most likely music, shopping and nice people. Often, you get the owners of the businesses and brewery or winery right there serving and talking to you.
What’s not to like?
This weekend you get a double dose of fun. Both the Morgan Hill Downtown Association and the Wineries of Santa Clara Valley have events planned.
Weather alert! It’s going to be in the 70s—perfect outdoor event weather, special ordered.
Saturday afternoon, Oct. 14, the Downtown Association hosts the Brew Crawl. This event will bring in 19 breweries and a specialty drink (think selzer) to pour samples at various businesses in Morgan Hill’s downtown.
The focus of the Brew Crawl is to bring in as many small craft breweries as possible to make the event special. Craft brews are taking the adult beverage world by storm and some of the finest will be here.
This year there will be two check-in points to complement the two biggest sponsors of the event: The Trail Dust restaurant and Running Shop & Hops store and tap room.
This event starts at 1pm and ends at 5pm, so enjoy those beverages and consider sticking around for dinner and shopping afterwards. Tickets are $35 in advance and $40 day of event (if there are any left…).
The big weekend actually gets started a day earlier with the Wineries of Santa Clara Valley’s Passport Friday Night event. This is a private event, but you can find out how to be a part of it by purchasing tickets to the weekend of tasting for $40—that’s an entire weekend of tasting with over 25 wineries participating.
Friday night, 19 wineries will be serving tasting pours all in one location—The Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center. This two-hour evening event (6 to 8pm) usually sees more of the winemakers themselves pouring their wines since it is a smaller crowd and shorter event. Don’t miss this intimate private event.
If you got that Wine Passport you’ll have a pass to the over 25 wineries that will have all kinds of special treats in store all weekend for wine tasters on the prowl.
The wineries really put on their best face for the weekend of tasting. Besides pouring samples of their fine wines, many will have entertainment and food. Some of the wineries are getting to be known for their special food offerings.
We should all be proud of our local wineries; their wines are just getting better and better, and tasting these wines in their festive settings just seems to make them even tastier.
So get plenty of rest, eat well and get out starting Friday night to have a great time as you can only do right here in the South Valley.
Brew Crawl info:morganhilldowntown.org
Passport Weekend info: santaclarawines.com
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 ta*****@ya***.com.
