In May of 2005, the Seaside Downtown Development Association held a brand new event in downtown Seaside… a Wine Walk! SDDA invited Oregon wineries to come to Seaside and set up inside downtown businesses to pour samples of their best wines for the public. The businesses provided hors d’oeuvres and the event was a go! It was quite popular and we thought we’d try another one in November. That one was so successful it was decided to continue with two Wine Walks a year, keeping them in May and November to help extend our “season” for visitors and to give our residents another fun thing to do in town. Each Wine Walk brings hundreds of people to the downtown area for an afternoon and evening of great wines, great food and of course, great fun!
We set up three different locations to sell our commemorative wine glasses and check ID’s. The glasses are required and we sell them for $5 each, the ID bracelets are free (if you’re over 21)! Participants are given maps indicating in which business each winery is located, and also tells a little about the winery itself. Then, promptly at 3:00pm the Wine Walkers are off and the fun begins! They can follow the map stop-by-stop or go any which way they want to! The event lasts for 4 hours, giving everybody plenty of time to visit each winery. The wineries are allowed to sell unopened bottles, so if you find a new favorite you can take a bottle home with you!
Most of the wineries charge a small tasting fee, making it an inexpensive way to experience new wines and check out what downtown Seaside has to offer. Some of our businesses have live music, so you can tap your toe while you taste your wine! Since all the wine must be consumed in the host business, it’s a great time for browsing the stores and maybe finding a special gift for that special someone or a wonderful souvenir for yourself!
We have people who travel to Seaside just to come to the Wine Walks and some who discover it by accident while they’re visiting. Some haven’t missed one yet and each time we get visitors who have never done it beore. We meet people from all over Oregon, Washington, Idaho, California and even from the East Coast and Canada!
We hope you’ll be one of our next Wine Walk visitors!
Come Wine With Us! May 15, 2010 & November 13, 2010
Seaside Downtown Development Association
503-717-1914