For Passport Day in April, the Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association invites you to get “Down to Earth”. This month's Passport theme is a celebration of California Wines “Down to Earth Month”, the second annual statewide celebration that the Wine Institute coordinates to help highlight California's leadership in sustainable winegrowing and other environmental initiatives—and the people and places behind them. As a Passport holder, we invite you to explore our extraordinary earth-friendly viticultural region as well as our earth friendly wines, organic wine trails, barrel ­samples, and special tasting flights to support 'Save Our Shores', a local non-profit dedicated to clean beaches. Most Passport wineries are open 11am – 5pm (please call to confirm). Passports are $45 online. $5 of every Passport sold will go to Save Our Shores.

The Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association invites you to enjoy the wineries of this extraordinary appellation! As a Passport holder, we welcome you to explore this unique viticultural region and become acquainted with the incredible diversity of the wines and winemakers therein.

Passport wineries will be open on the third Saturday of January, April, July and November from 11:00am to 5:00pm, as well as during their regular hours. Each season brings something new to the vineyards; from pruning in the winter to crush in the fall, wineries are bustling with activity year-round! Passport is your opportunity to meet the talented winemakers of the Santa Cruz Mountains and to see where and how they produce some of the world's great wines.

Some of our wineries are not open to the public except on Passport days and many pour special wines or barrel samples on these days. A lot of these wines are simply not available anywhere else, so if you find a wine that you like, please buy a bottle or two. Without sales, these special tastings cannot take place.

Use the map as a rough guide only and read the directions for each individual winery. At each winery you visit, a page of your Passport will be given a unique commemorative stamp. You must have your Passport with you in order to participate in the tasting. Passport benefits are good for one visit to each participating winery and are for use on designated Passport days only. Passports do not expire until each winery has been visited once.

During Passport Day you can also enjoy discounts at local participating restaurants. Participating restaurants offer specials such as waived corkage on Santa Cruz Mountains Wines, 10% off on dinner and much, much more! Restaurant pages are located in the back section of each Passport.

Although there is a prize for completing the Passport, the true reward is discovering and enjoying the great wines along the way. Take as long as you’d like. We will honor completed Passports for as long as the program endures, hopefully for many, many years.

Purchase a Passport for $40 donation by calling (831) 685-8463. Each Passport covers tasting room fees for one person at all participating wineries and is valid until completed.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit http://www.scmwa.com/events/.