The NCAA isn’t the only organization getting ready for March Madness. The Lehigh Valley Wine Trail, a collection of eight local wineries, is also preparing to open their doors for its annual month-long event.

Every weekend in March, each of the vineyards will feature wine tasting and food pairings, including specialty foods from Pennsylvania distributors like DiBruno Bros. and Chocolates on Broadway.

To take full advantage of the March Madness event, each person must purchase a passport for $35, which not only allows one to participate in the special offers, but also gains entry into drawings for gift cards and other prizes from Lehigh Valley restaurants, hotels and stores.

Here’s how it works:

• Purchase a March Madness passport before they are all sold out (details below).
• Visit each of the eight wineries throughout the weekends of March (3 and 4, 10 and 11, 17 and 18, 24 and 25).
• Enjoy food/wine pairings, specialty foods, six wine tastings at each location, and beautiful Lehigh Valley scenery.
• Have your passport validated at each winery as proof that you visited.
• Leave the front page of your passport with the last winery you visit to have it entered in the prize raffles, to be drawn on April 20.

The only wineries with passports still available are Galen Glen Winery in Andreas, and Big Creek Vineyard in Kresgeville. Passports can be purchased with cash by visiting either winery, or you can call ahead and reserve a passport, send a check made out to the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail, and have it mailed to you. Mailed passports have an additional $1 surcharge.

Big Creek Vineyard is also selling the remaining passports through their shop in Jim Thorpe.

The Lehigh Valley Wine Trail will be regularly posting updates regarding how many passports are left, but don’t wait -- get one before they sell out. You don’t have to be a passport holder to visit the wineries in March, but they are required by most of the vineyards to participate in the food/wine pairings and special events.

All of the March Madness specialties can be seen on the Taste of the Trail blog, so that patrons can plan their weekends according to personal preference.

The eight vineyards of the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail are:

• Big Creek Vineyard in Kresgeville
• Blue Mountain Vineyards & Cellars in New Tripoli
• Clover Hill Vineyards & Winery in Breinigsville
• Franklin Hill Vineyards in Lower Mount Bethel Township
• Galen Glen Winery in Andreas
• Pinnacle Ridge in Kutztown
• Vynecrest in Breinigsville
• Amore Vineyards & Winery in East Allen Township

See you on the trail!