Saratoga News

Wine festival gives eateries a chance to show their stuff

By Sarah Lombardo

The wine may draw them in, but local restaurants will also have the opportunity to woo customers with their fare when the Vinters' Festival 1998 flows down Big Basin Way June 6-7.

Sponsored by the Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association, the two-weekend event is designed to showcase wineries located in the Santa Cruz Mountains and to give people the opportunity to sample their products. Wineries from Santa Clara and San Mateo counties will be featured one weekend, and the following weekend's activities will take place in Santa Cruz County and feature wines from that area.

In past years, some wineries have set up locations for wine-tasting at different restaurants. This year, for the first time, four Saratoga Village restaurants--Bella Saratoga, The Plumed Horse, Sent Sovi and Viaggio--will host tastings.

Although the majority of visitors to the festival will most likely attend because of an interest in the wines, the festival provides a chance for local merchants to get some attention, too. "From any perspective, it is a chance to build some traffic," Bella Saratoga owner Bill Cooper said. "It sure will give us some exposure."

Each restaurant will feature products from different wineries: Bella Saratoga will host Devlin Wine Cellars and Troquato Vineyards; The Plumed Horse will feature Cinnabar Vineyards and Ridge Vineyards; Sent Sovi will host Kathryn Kennedy Winery; and Viaggio will be pouring Fellom Ranch Vineyards and McHenry Vineyard.

Other wineries--including Byington Winery and Vineyard, Clos LaChance Wines, Cooper-Garrod Vineyards, Cronin Vineyards, David Bruce Winery, Page Mill Winery, Savannah-Chanel Vineyards, Thomas Fogarty Winery and Woodside Vineyards--will have tasting on-site.

According to Sally Mountain, the executive assistant of the event, local restaurants will also have food available at a nominal price, and some may even feature live music. The event is expected to draw some 5,000 people over the two weekends.

"But it's not real congested at any one location," she said. "It has a really good flow to it."

And the idea, Mountain said, is to show area residents what they have in their own back yard.

"The main purpose is for people to just know that there are really great wines made close by," she said. "They don't have to go to Sonoma or out of the area."

Tickets to the event are $20 per person, are good for both weekends and can be purchased in advance or on any day of the festival at any of the participating locations. For more information, call 479-9463.

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