At the fringes of the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles County, more than 700 people walked through the Sierra Pelona Valley Wine Festival at Reyes Winery in Agua Dulce Saturday, breathing in the fragrances of local spirits.

“I’m always interested in the wines that are produced locally,” said Clayton Larson, an Acton resident. “I normally go to Paso Robles or Napa Valley, so I’m interested in what the wines are like compared to those places.”

The vineyard is still young, but aging into prominence. The Reyes family planted their first crop in 2004 and went commercial in 2011, winning over 100 awards for their wines.

At the event, a total of 34 local wineries local to Santa Clarita Valley and the Antelope Valley, as well as several breweries and a local coffee shop, shared their beverages. The Sierra Pelona Valley Wine Festival is the largest gathering of winemakers in the Santa Clarita area.

Robert Reyes, the owner and general manager of the winery, was happy to welcome guests from the community and beyond to taste his wine.

“This is our sixth year doing this event, because it’s our way of saying thank you to the community that supports us,” Reyes said. “This is a great community, not just in Agua Dulce as a smaller community, but (with) Santa Clarita as the larger city.”

The proceeds from each ticket went to the nonprofit Zonta Club of Santa Clarita Valley, helping women around Santa Clarita.

“Reyes Winery always wants to help nonprofits in Santa Clarita,” said Judy Penman, the president of Zonta Club of Santa Clarita. “All of the wineries here know that they’re benefitting Zonta.”

The proceeds will fund their service projects, as well as grants and scholarships for women of all ages.

Penman said that two of the Zonta Club’s main community outreach projects are the LifeForward workshops and the Virginia Wrage scholarship.

The LifeForward workshops help female veterans and domestic violence survivors learn about finance and finding housing, while the Virginia Wrage Memorial Fund helps women in need of extra funds return to school.

“For many, many years now we have given a Virginia Wrage scholarship to women that are in a midlife crisis,” said Penman. “Either had a divorce, some people had a fire in their house and lost everything, and they were going to school to get a degree and they lost all of their books, all of their work.”

“Some people are homeless and we want to help them a find a place to live,” Penman continued. “We have a lot of women that are very deserving that we give this scholarship to.”

By gathering hundreds together to enjoy wine for the day, the officials for Zonta Club of Santa Clarita Valley and Reyes Winery hope they can help others move forward.

Report a typo or error, email Corrections@hometownstation.com

KHTS FM 98.1 and AM 1220 is Santa Clarita’s only local radio station. KHTS mixes in a combination of news, traffic, sports, and features along with your favorite adult contemporary hits. Santa Clarita news and features are delivered throughout the day over our airwaves, on our website and through a variety of social media platforms. Our KHTS national award-winning daily news briefs are now read daily by 34,000+ residents. A vibrant member of the Santa Clarita community, the KHTS broadcast signal reaches all of the Santa Clarita Valley and parts of the high desert communities located in the Antelope Valley. The station streams its talk shows over the web, reaching a potentially worldwide audience. Follow @KHTSRadio on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.