San Martin's Wine Calendar Peaks on October 24, Then Runs by Day of the Week

This Saturday, October 24, all four tasting rooms in San Martin have something scheduled on the same day. CordeValle, Lion Ranch and Miramar are pouring for the Wineries of Santa Clara Valley Fall Passport. Little Uvas Vineyards, which is not part of the Passport, is holding a Haunted Tasting Room. Lion Ranch stays open after dark for a Halloween party. Everything after that weekend works differently. From November through Thanksgiving weekend there are no more shared event days. Each winery has its own day of the week, and once you know which day belongs to which tasting room, you can plan the rest of the season.

Saturday, October 24, From Noon to Ten

The Fall Passport runs across the whole weekend. The Wineries of Santa Clara Valley events calendar lists it from noon Saturday to 4pm Sunday. Most of San Martin's activity lands on Saturday, though, because that's when the Little Uvas and Lion Ranch Halloween events overlap with Passport pouring.

The Little Uvas afternoon is planned for both kids and adults. The winery's event page invites guests to come in costume, with Halloween-themed Syrah and Chardonnay for the adults and pumpkin decorating and trick-or-treating for the kids. The listing gives no admission price, and the winery takes reservations by phone or email.

Lion Ranch is selling tickets for its evening party through its online shop, and the association calendar doesn't show a price. Its regular tasting hours, Friday through Sunday from 11am to 4pm according to its Wineries of Santa Clara Valley profile, end two hours before the party starts. You can visit the same address twice that day, once for a Passport tasting and again after dark.

How the Passport Works When You Start Close to Home

The Fall Passport costs $55 and covers ten wineries. Each one gives you one passport tasting over the weekend and pours two wines. Some wineries add new releases, harvest activities, food, live music or bottle specials. Three of the ten are in San Martin: CordeValle Winery, Lion Ranch Vineyards & Winery and Miramar Vineyards. The other seven are Cinnabar Winery, Cooper-Garrod Estate Vineyards, Cottage Creek Vineyards, Sarah's Vineyard, Satori Cellars, Solis Winery and Twice Tyger.

The order you visit them in is up to you, and the association lays out the process this way:

1. Buy the Passport through Eventbrite.
2. At whichever participating winery you visit first, show the ticket's QR code to check in and pick up your Fall Passport lanyard.
3. Visit the rest in any order on Saturday or Sunday. The Passport covers both days, so you don't have to finish in one afternoon.

If you live in San Martin, you can check in at a winery a few minutes from home and leave the Hecker Pass stops, such as Solis Winery at 3920 Hecker Pass Road in Gilroy, for Sunday. Each winery also has a Secret Word for an optional sweepstakes. You can ask for the word and write it on your passport without buying, tasting or drinking anything.

Times vary by winery. Miramar Vineyards at 12255 New Ave. opens Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5pm, according to its association profile. CordeValle Winery at 1 Hummingbird Lane lists Wednesday through Sunday, 11am to 4pm, on its own visit page. The association's older profile shows longer CordeValle hours, so go by the winery's page.

Sunday has a quieter shape. CordeValle's event calendar lists free patio music with Jukebox Boyz on October 25 from 1 to 4pm, with no reservations required. Just over the line in Morgan Hill, Cottage Creek Vineyards at 12537 Watsonville Road has music both days: Nick Di Salvo with Gudino's Wood Fire Pizza on Saturday, then the Dustflower Band and California Inspirations on Sunday, both from noon to 5pm.

One More Evening Before the Calendar Changes

CordeValle hosts the last dated Halloween event, a Halloween Bash on Friday, October 30, from 6 to 10pm. Tickets are $35 for general admission and $29.75 for members. After October 30, the San Martin calendar has almost no one-time events left. Instead, each tasting room keeps its own day of the week.

November Runs on a Weekly Rhythm

Little Uvas has the most regular schedule. Its homepage lists hours on the third Thursday of each month and every Friday from 4 to 8pm, plus Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5pm. Each of those time slots comes with a different deal.

• Every Friday, 4 to 8pm. Happy hour brings a $5 glass of Chardonnay or Cabernet Sauvignon and a $5 Caesar salad. A $5 wood-fired pizza comes with any bottle purchase.
• First Saturday, noon to 7pm. Corks & Crust is a $40 special with a bottle of LUV wine, two Caesar salads and a hand-tossed wood-fired pizza, with $15 extra for the Barbera. No tickets are needed. In November that falls on the 7th.
• Third Thursday, 4 to 8pm. Corks & Pasta pairs a bottle with two Caesar salads, two desserts and two pastas, and pasta entrées are $10 each on their own. The winery recommends reservations. In November that falls on the 19th.

CordeValle has Sundays. Its patio music is free and runs from 1 to 4pm every Sunday in November.

Together the two schedules cover most of the week. Little Uvas is open on Friday evenings, CordeValle's patio has free music on Sunday afternoons, and on Saturdays you have Little Uvas, Lion Ranch and Miramar. Monday and Tuesday are the only days none of the four San Martin tasting rooms lists hours.

Cottage Creek has a less predictable schedule. The winery opens two weekends a month and on some Friday evenings, and its event calendar lists the November dates. Nick DiSalvo plays Friday, November 6, from 4 to 8pm. On November 14 and 15, Brooke & Emil and then Alex & Justina Lucero play from noon to 4:30pm, with charcuterie for sale.

Thanksgiving Weekend Has Music on Both Days

The last weekend of November matches mid-month for the most scheduled music in a single weekend. On Saturday, November 28, Cottage Creek has the Nick & Shawn Duo from noon to 4:30pm. On Sunday, November 29, it has James Durbin over the same hours, and nonmembers pay $10. That same Sunday, Free Spirit closes out CordeValle's November music from 1 to 4pm, with no charge.

Both wineries are a short drive from each other, so you could catch a set at each on the same Sunday afternoon. If family is staying through Friday the 27th, Little Uvas's regular Friday hours fall that evening too. Holiday schedules can change, so a quick call to the tasting room before you go is a good idea.

If this fall's tasting room schedule has you thinking about life in San Martin past the harvest season, from a home near Fitzgerald Avenue to more space along New Avenue, Amy Martinez would be glad to talk it through with you, calmly and on your own timeline. Let's Connect.