FORESTVILLE In the spirit of the autumn season, Merritt Estate Winery is once again preparing for their annual Harvest Dinner. The Harvest Dinner is an elegant, seven-course meal hosted annually by the winery during the grape harvest season at a local participating restaurant.

Merritt Estate will be holding this year's Harvest Dinner on Oct. 25. The event will be from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at The Colony Restaurant in Irving, New York. Dinner is open to the public with tickets being pre-sold for $75 per person. Space is limited to the first 90 reservations.

The dinner will begin with appetizers then continue with the main courses of the meal. Each dish will be paired with a different Merritt Estate wine. Vegetarian dishes are available upon request. Some of the courses being prepared for the evening by The Colony Restaurant are baked squash soup, honey-glazed salmon and Beef Wellington.

Guests will also receive a complimentary set of keepsake wine glasses for use during the event. The set includes a glass for red wine, white wine and a cordial wine glass for dessert wines. Each glass is imprinted with the Merritt Estate Winery crest and may be taken home at the end of the evening.

The Harvest Dinner became a tradition in 2006 to celebrate the Chautauqua-Lake Erie region grape harvest. The Chautauqua-Lake Erie grape region is the largest grape growing region east of the Rocky Mountains. The harvest season has been a celebrated time of the year by many local agricultural producers and wine makers for decades.

"We have a lot of pride in our grape growing region," said Eileen LeMar, special projects person for the Merritt Estate Winery. "We celebrate the wines and harvest at our three summer festivals but this is an opportunity to experience the wine in a more intimate atmosphere. I feel the dinner with wine pairing allows for a greater appreciation for the wines and food."

To purchase tickets for the Harvest Dinner or to get more information regarding the menu, call the winery at 888-965-4800 or visit www.merrittestatewinery.com

Merritt Estate is located in the largest grape growing region in New York State, The grapes and wines produced under Merritt rival the quality of premium vintages throughout the world.