Food & drink events this weekend: orange wine, testicle festival, Pizza Bones pop-up

Lily Belli brings you a curated list of the best food and drink events in Santa Cruz County for this weekend and into the coming week.

Sign up for Lily’s Eaters Digest newsletter for the weekly events round-up and a recommended dish or drink worth seeking out. This week it was all about Tacos de camaron from Miches and Ceviches.

Orange wine party

Bonny Doon Vineyard and Ser Winery are hosting an orange-themed party at the Doon to Earth tasting room in Aptos Village this Saturday, Aug. 26, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. to celebrate the release of its first orange wine. Never heard of it? Orange wines are also called skin-contact whites because they’re made by keeping white grapes on their skins after pressing. The skins aren’t kept on through the finished wine; rather, the grapes are pressed, and instead of siphoning off the juice from the skins immediately as is normally done when making white wine, the juice and the skins commingle for some amount of time. As in red wine, orange wines draw flavor properties and color from this skin contact — hence the name.

If your eyes glazed over at that explanation, don’t worry — this party looks like a blast, with orange food prepared by chef Valentin Lopez of Four Calendar and a DJ set by DJ Perfa. Don’t forget to wear orange! This event is free to enter.

Let’s have a ball

This unique agricultural festival is an opportunity for the whole family to hang loose. The Testicle Festival returns to Estrada Deer Camp in Watsonville on Saturday, Aug. 26. You read that right — enjoying all-you-can-eat fried USDA-inspected bull testicles, aka cowboy caviar, aka Rocky Mountain oysters, aka huevos de toro, is part of the draw at this event, along with live music, a silent auction, fundraising dinner and cow-pie bingo. Find out if it really tastes like chicken! It should be a real ball! Tickets are $75 per person.

Weekly roundup

Friday, Aug. 25

• Food Truck Fridays | 5 - 8 p.m. @Skypark, Scotts Valley

Saturday, Aug. 26

• Ukrainian Art in the Park | Noon - 6 p.m. @Esplanade Park, Capitola
• Testicle Festival | 3 - 7 p.m. @196 Hazel Dell Rd., Watsonville
• Orange Party! | 3 - 7 p.m. @ 10 Parade St., Suite B, Aptos

Sunday, Aug. 27

• Aptos Vineyard winemakers dinner | 5:30 - 8:30 p.m. @7945 Soquel Dr., Aptos | $145

Monday, Aug. 28

• Pizza Bones pop-up | 5:30 - 9 p.m. @Madson Wines

Wednesday, Aug. 30

• Galettes for Kids! | 2 - 4 p.m. @Companion Bakeshop Westside | $85

See more upcoming events in BOLO (Be On the Lookout) — your place to go for things to do in Santa Cruz County.