Salud, doesn’t just mean “health” in Spanish, but it also means xcheersx, a good wish to those who join us in the happiness of having a drink.

Wishing Salud is going to become the greeting of choice in the upcoming weeks when the Baja Wine Harvest festivities begins its 19th annual edition, supported by all of their years of winery tradition and the new found “hip feeling of wine.”

The Vendimia (wine harvest) festivities are based in the hot Guadalupe Valle on August 6th and go on until the 23th. Most of the events are held at the wineries and nearby Ensenada (just 30 minute drive from the Guadalupe Valley), but smaller events are held in Ensenada, Mexicali, Tecate and Rosarito.

After almost 20 years of tradition, the Vendimia has 26 wineries participating in the festival, having around 50 different events under this yearxs chosen theme, “enjoying Baja California’s skies”.

The activities are organized around two weeks of music concerts, wine tours, food festivals and a lot of wine tasting, all revolving around the fact that it is harvest time, a time where proud local producers show off their best wines and the luxury and pleasure they can create.

Amongst the publics favorites are the wine tasting held at the old Riviera Casino in Ensenada, on August 17th, where over 3 thousand people are expected to attend and the tickets are already sold out.

Another expected event is the “Sunset Concert” a classical music concert held at the Monte Xanic winery, for a romantic night of music wine and cheese.

For a more family-style outing, you can try the Paella contest, that was first started by the Ensenada Lions Club in 1984 and proved to be so successful it is now under the care of the Baja California Wine Producers Association.

After 24 years, the contest is pretty heavy with over 100 teams of paella-makers cooking their best dish to attract the big crows.

You can even say wine is a mere excuse to go out and celebrate summer looking pretty.

The ambience created by the big open spaces of perfectly laid out plants are reason enough to bring even your friends who are not fond of wine. If that is the case, one should consider the Gala dinner at Adobe Guadalupe winery or the bullfight in Santo Tomás; dinner events at Casa de Piedra or the “Jazz en el Mogor” concert and picnic.

If, -like many of us-, you feel your knowledge of wine are as rusty as your calculus skills, the Vendimia also offers a series of workshops, held by a patient and funny sommelier (a wine expert) that will help you get a few conversation pointers before your winery tours.

If you are already practicing your pronounciation of xSaludx visit the Vendimia webpage at www.fiestasdelavendimia.com