Next weekend, the Gilroy Garlic Festival will take place. This
event is known for bringing thousands of people to our communities,
ready to enjoy the assortment of activities and food that have
helped make Gilroy the place to be in late July.
Next weekend, the Gilroy Garlic Festival will take place. This event is known for bringing thousands of people to our communities, ready to enjoy the assortment of activities and food that have helped make Gilroy the place to be in late July.
One area you must visit while at the festival is the Wine Pavilion, a showcase of local wineries that is managed and operated by the Gilroy Rotary Club. The Wine Pavilion is located near the south entrance of Christmas Hill Park.
The history of the Wine Pavilion (formerly known as the Wine Tent) started when the South Santa Clara Valley Wine Grower’s Association decided the Garlic Festival would be the perfect place to promote the vineyards and wineries in the area. The responsibility of operations was done by the local wineries, which would rent tents, staff the booths and brought in wines they were anxious to introduce to the public.
About 11 years ago, the Department of Alcohol and Beverage Control informed the wineries that they could not pour their product at the Garlic Festival because they did not have off-site sales licenses. Not to be deterred, the Garlic Festival folks decided to call on the Gilroy Rotary Club, the only organization they felt was large enough to handle the logistics of the Wine Pavilion alone.
The wineries participating this year include Casa de Fruta, Fortino Winery, Guglielmo Winery, Hecker Pass Winery, Pedrezzetti Winery, Rappazini Winery, Sarah’s Vineyard, Thomas Kruse Winery, Sycamore Creek and Zanger Vineyards.
The Gilroy Rotary Club is responsible for getting the Wine Pavilion up and running. After confirming with what wineries are participating, the Rotary Club purchases the wine (at a discount) from the wineries, sets up the tent, coordinates ticket sales, provides ice and cups, stemware, signage and other items.
Garlic magnate and Rotarian Don Christopher provides a refrigerated trailer to keep everything cool and safe.
The Rotary Club sends an entourage of more than 75 volunteers during the course of the weekend to assist the staff representatives of the wineries.
Visitors to the Wine Pavilion will need to purchase a ticket for $6 to gain entrance into the Pavilion. The guest can then choose from a few tasting options.
The first option, and most popular one, is to use the perforated tickets to select small sample servings of wine from any combination of wineries represented.
You can also use the entire ticket for a 6-ounce serving if you happen to know what wine you would like.
The participating wineries will not be able to sell you any of their products on-site, but most will have knowledgeable staff there to answer any questions, provide directions to their facilities and sign up those interested in wine club membership.
The adventurous and curious will definitely want to try the “Chateau de Garlic,” a white wine flavored with fresh garlic from Rappazini Winery!
Rotarian Marco Renella has helped coordinate the Wine Pavilion for years. “We emphasize strongly to our volunteers that this event is fun, but also has a much larger purpose.
The proceeds gained from the Wine Pavilion are combined with other fund-raiser proceeds that the Gilroy Rotary Club organizes each year. These funds are then distributed to local nonprofits and charities,” Renella said.
The Gilroy Rotary Club also demonstrates the motto of Rotary, “Service above Self” with the Project Share Life booth that is right next door to the Wine Pavilion.
Project Share Life is a global effort to establish a bone-marrow database. For people who have leukemia and other life-threatening diseases, this may be their only hope for survival.
“The process is easier and more advanced now. Instead of taking a small blood sample, a simple oral swab is used. It is quick and painless.
“We hope that we can add even more this year,” said Garlic Festival organizer Marina Thomas.
In a generous display of support, Rotary District 5170 will be giving $10,000 toward this year’s effort.
The money will be used to add donors to the National Marrow Donor Program for Testing. More than 600 were added from last year’s festival alone.
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society has recognized Rotary District 5170 as a major contributor in this effort and has nominated the district, under the watchful eye of new chairman Arley “Gnarly” Marley III and co-chairwoman Bonnie Burdett, to receive the distinguished national “Partners Against Leukemia & Lymphoma Award.”
Do something for yourself and stop by the Wine Pavilion to enjoy a great assortment of local wines. Do something for others and take a few moments to stop by the Project Share Life booth too.
Cheers!
