Grab a passport to select SC wineries

Passport Day in the Santa Cruz Wine Region is Saturday, Nov. 21, and it is an excellent time to go wine tasting. It only happens four times a year, and this will be the last chance to celebrate in 2009.
On this day, designated by the Santa Cruz Mountain Winegrowers Association, all the group’s wineries, both public and private, open their doors from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is an opportunity to taste wines you’ve never had and maybe never heard of before.
Wineries will pour library wines and offer barrel sampling, some will have lunch available, and some will exhibit local artists’ work. A few wineries will even have live music.
This time around, we get to celebrate the opening of three new wineries! Hillcrest Terrace Winery and Odonata Winery will pour in the Surf City Vintners plaza in Santa Cruz, and Dancing Creek Winery will pour at Michael’s on Main in Soquel.
Odonata and Dragonfly Cellars are basically one and the same. If you visit them Saturday, be sure to try their Durif. I believe they are the only winery in the region that makes this rare varietal, and they do a very good job with it.
For Scotts Valley and San Lorenzo Valley residents, I highly recommend visiting Heart O’ The Mountain Vineyards. It is one of the most beautiful places I have seen in our county, and it stands just past Scotts Valley High School. The winery makes incredible pinot noir and proudly keeps the Alfred Hitchcock legacy going. There is no parking at the winery, though, so be sure to catch the free shuttles they provide, which will depart from 100 Enterprise Way every 15 minutes throughout the day.
Remember, you must have a SCMWA passport to participate! Passports can be bought for $70 on Saturday at any participating winery. More information can be found at www.scmwa.com.
The Santa Cruz Experience will provide a public tour for those who don’t want to drive on Passport. For tickets and information, visit www.thesanta
cruzexperience.com.
Hope to see you out there supporting our local
wineries. Cheers!
• Austin Twohig is a certified sommelier and partner in The Santa Cruz Experience, which conducts winery tours in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Contact him at austin@
thesantacruzexperience.com.