This is one in an occasional series of stories on how wineries and appellations market wines.

Six years ago Stags Leap District wineries developed an event called Vineyard to Vintner, an open house in which consumers go from winery to winery, tasting wines. Other appellations and winery groups do similar tastings, but what has set Stags Leap District apart is that the tasting tour is only one part of an overall day-long event.

This year's Vineyard to Vintner, now generally known as V2V, was held Saturday and was themed "On the Trail of World Class Cabernet," a reference to Silverado Trail, where all 15 participating wineries are located. Events also made reference to "Leap" in their titles.

About 340 people signed up for V2V, coming from 16 states, including some from as far as Florida, New Hampshire and Virginia, and Stags Leap District Executive Director Nancy Bialek said a six-person contingent even came from Alaska.

The day began with "Leap to Your Senses: A Sensory Seminar," in which guests were instructed on what makes Stags Leap cabernet sauvignons different from others and the common characteristics that run through all of them. Each was given a small plastic container with six compartments filled with a cherry, a blackberry, bits of chocolate, some vanilla, a rose petal and some thyme, and guests were asked to try to pick out those aromas in three unidentified wines placed in front of them.

After more than 100 people sniffed and tasted, they were sent on a "Cabernet Treasure Hunt" and told to try to identify the three wines they smelled and tasted during the seminar.

The participating wineries held open house during the afternoon, and guests moved from location to location, trying to find the mystery wines. Many of the wineries also featured library wines or other special wines to show off the Stags Leap terroir.

They had another opportunity during the evening when about 300 people gathered at Stags' Leap Winery for an outdoor walk-around dinner and more winetasting, while a jazz trio played nearby.

Bialek announced at the beginning of the seminar that a bottle of wine would be awarded to anyone who correctly identified any one of the three wines, and nine people qualified, including two from Napa -- Mel and Rosemary Gafner. But no one identified all three, she said.

Guests also were given an opportunity to place an advance order for the Appellation Collection, an assortment of cabernets from each of the 15 member wineries. The collection is limited to 300 cases and costs $1,200 per case, and has sold out each of the 10 years it has been offered.

Bialek said that in the past, the number of guests was restricted because of limited capacity at the dinner. But this year, for the first time, guests were offered an opportunity to purchase tickets for the winery open house tasting only, or for the entire package including the dinner. As a result, she said, total attendance doubled.

She acknowledged that trying to determine just how wine sales are affected by the event is difficult, but most wineries report that they do sell wine to guests on V2V day, along with signing up members for their wine clubs.

Stags Leap District winery members include Baldacci Family Vineyards, Chimney Rock Winery, Cliff Lede Vineyards, Clos du Val, Griffin Vineyards, Hartwell Vineyards, Ilsley Vineyards, Pine Ridge Winery, Regusci Winery, Shafer Vineyards, Silverado Vineyards, Robert Sinskey Vineyards, Stags' Leap Winery, Steltzner Vineyards and Taylor Family Vineyards.

On the Web: www.stagsleapdistrict.com