Celebrating Santa Barbara County’s wine grape harvest

The Santa Barbara County wine region will be busier than usual this weekend with the return of the annual Harvest Celebration.

Locals and visitors will be attending special events, wineries and tasting rooms across the county in one of the biggest events of the year for the wine grape industry.

Its time to enjoy the fruit of the labor of one of the biggest industries in Santa Barbara County.

The annual Celebration of the Harvest weekend attracts large crowds over four days, filling up wineries, tasting rooms, restaurants and hotels.

Perhaps the best way to enjoy it all is with a Harvest Experience Passport.

“You’re going to go to celebrationofharvest.com and purchase the ticket, you’ll actually be printing out a voucher”, said Fran Clow with Santa Barbara Vintners, “you will go to a specific winery and exchange that for a ticket which allows you to go to 12 wineries over the three day period from Friday through October 1.”

In addition to enjoying the world class wines and savory, locally-grown food that goes with it, the Harvest Celebration is also a chance to learn more about an industry that accounts for hundreds of millions of dollars in direct and indirect economic activity in Santa Barbara County every year.

“We have always had a grand tasting but now we’re trying to introduce people to the wine region as a whole”, Clow added, “and teach them something about the harvest.”

There is a Celebration of the Harvest kick-off event Friday, September 29 at 7 p.m. at the Fess Parker Doubletree Resort in Santa Barbara.

For more information go to www.celebrationofharvest.com.