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Best Kept Secret
updated: Dec 09, 2012, 8:39 AM

By Edhat Subscriber

Discovered one of the best kept secrets at Zaca Mesa Winery's movie night under the stars on Saturday night! Outdoor screen, yummy hors d'oeuvres, chocolates and red licorice for $10 per person ($8 for club members). We brought pizza, warm blankets, hot chocolate and cheesecake. Adults and kids played chess on the outdoor set, then settled down to watch the new holiday classic, "Elf". It's a bit of a drive, but such a fun "big group" event. Bring a designated driver and join in one of these events throughout the year. I highly recommend it. :)

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 351902P	2012-12-09 09:19 AM
An ad for a winery? Is that it?
COMMENT 351905P	2012-12-09 09:31 AM
Is this a permitted activity under the existing winery ordinance? I doubt it. I hope those who were there drinking and driving home in the dark did have designated drivers.
COMMENT 351910	2012-12-09 09:39 AM
That sounds like so much fun! Had I known I would have been there.
COMMENT 351922P	2012-12-09 10:10 AM
Wineries will do anything to get people out to buy their wine. This is a drop in the hat on their event schedule. Parties are the big money maker. Whole new industry of promoting "Wine Country Weddings". Now that's where your drunk drivers come from. Consuming Champagne wine and beer for hours. A good compromise would be for the business permit to limit how many events per year where alcohol is sold or consumed. It's nothing for one local winery which is host to a monthly yr-rd music venue to gross $5-6K per 4 hr event on alcohol sales alone; by-the-glass and whole bottles.
COMMENT 351945P	2012-12-09 11:24 AM
In the past few days, I've seen an Edhat inquiry about Ethiopian food with responses naming a restaurant that was already running a related advertisement in the Independent. Then there was the post about an ice cream shop opening in Montecito. And now this, with a link directly to a winery's Web site. Seems more like free advertising to me.
COMMENT 351955P	2012-12-09 12:31 PM
@945P: 902P here. Yeah, it's the website link that makes this seem like an ad.
COMMENT 351977P	2012-12-09 02:47 PM
945P. Lots of people out there desperate to sell you stuff. I object to the photog adverts/names on the beautiful photos. Ruins the pictures and is so tacky. Yet, I do feel for just about anyone who has to try and sell anything nowadays. The wineries, not so much. A lot less oak trees and a lot more noise for the neighbors and drunks on the road. What a trade off.
COMMENT 351985P	2012-12-09 03:59 PM
It wasn't clear to me the connection about movie night to the main page of the winery website. Seems as if this is another unpaid infomercial on Edhat.
COMMENT 351994P	2012-12-09 04:50 PM
945P: I sent in the Ethiopian food item. I have no connection to restaurant mentioned although I've eaten there a few times (but not for over a year). Sent item in because there have been comments over the years regarding how some (including me) would like to see an Ethiopian restaurant in SB.
COMMENT 351998	2012-12-09 04:57 PM
905p, you do realize that it's not illegal to drink a glass of wine or two with a meal or while out with friends, right? The illegal part is driving impaired, which means your BAC is high enough to be dangerous. A glass of wine or two over the course of two hours, with food is pretty safe for the vast majority of people. And no, since you're so concerned, there's nothing violating any ordinance about this event. Maybe you should lighten up and come join other people for some fun once in a while, it would do you good!
MTNDRIVER	2012-12-09 05:29 PM
The photographer's names on the images are a way of protecting their intellectual property from being stolen. Like a copyright mark. Doesn't bother me at all. I agree about this event and the ice cream shop opening sounding like press releases from the business. Not the Ethiopian food item, though! That seemed genuine, and I'm grateful to know about it. Just something a little bit like a sales pitch with the winery movie and the ice cream shop. That's just my perception, not "verified" as we say in bird watching.
MACPUZL	2012-12-09 05:54 PM
I think that part of the problem is that if you click on the two links for this article from the main Edhat page ("Open Forum" and "movie night"), they take you to the winery page. You only see the commentary by the OP at the top of this comments page.
COMMENT 352026P	2012-12-09 07:21 PM
@198...I think the post about legality referred to how many events are allowed per year. Most use permits for these relatively new businesses in Ag Zoning have conditions, because of the relatively isolated locations. Poor and/or narrow roads, distance from emergency services. However many friends who work in the tasting room business tell me that heavy drinking is becoming the norm, sad to say. It's a bottle consumed by the end of the day or evening not a glass. Having been to music events at wineries, I can attest to witnessing over-consumption and its saddle-pal, public barfing.
COMMENT 352121P	2012-12-10 07:51 AM
The winery website link isn't there anymore.

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