Wines of the Santa Cruz Mountains Uncorks a Paid Pass for World Cup Visitors
Wines of the Santa Cruz Mountains is launching a Seeker XP Paid Pass for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, giving international visitors a self-guided wine route through the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA. For $25, the Sip & Explore: SCM Wine Adventure Pass puts complimentary wine tastings across the region on any visitor’s phone.
Overview
The Sip & Explore: SCM Wine Adventure Pass runs June 6 through July 15, 2026, covering the full FIFA World Cup window in the Bay Area. Visitors purchase online and get instant access on any phone. Pass holders can explore as many of the 30+ participating wineries as they want, at their own pace, across the full event window. Each stop includes one complimentary tasting plus exclusive perks for pass holders, including waived fees, special pours, and discounts not available on a standard visit.
At a Glance
- Activation: Sip & Explore: SCM Wine Adventure Pass
- Location: Santa Cruz Mountains AVA, California
- Timeline: June 6 – July 15, 2026
- Audience: World Cup visitors and regional wine enthusiasts
- Use Cases: Beverage Trail, Visitor Experience
- Experience Type: Paid Pass, Digital Passport
- Industry: Destination Marketing
- Key Features: Paid Pass, QR Codes
- Platform: Seeker XP
About Wines of the Santa Cruz Mountains
Wines of the Santa Cruz Mountains is the regional wine association representing producers across the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA. (An AVA, or American Viticultural Area, is a federally designated wine appellation; the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA, established in 1981, is one of the first in the country whose boundaries are drawn by elevation rather than county lines.) The region spans nearly half a million acres across Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, and San Mateo counties, with 70+ wineries producing Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Cabernet Sauvignon shaped by mountain elevation, coastal fog, and the cooling influence of Monterey Bay. The alliance runs year-round programs connecting visitors to the region’s boutique producers, including the long-standing SCM Wine Passport. The Sip & Explore: SCM Wine Adventure Pass is the digital-first evolution of that tradition.
Wines of the Santa Cruz Mountains represents one of California’s most distinctive yet underrecognized wine regions. The Santa Cruz Mountains AVA produces boutique-scale Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Cabernet Sauvignon from mountain-elevation vineyards, a profile that stands apart from the better-known Napa and Sonoma corridors. The challenge for the alliance has always been discovery: visitors routed to the Bay Area by sports events and convention calendars often leave without knowing that world-class producers with open tasting rooms sit only 30 minutes south.
To solve that, Wines of the Santa Cruz Mountains chose Seeker XP’s Paid Pass to build a digital wine passport that requires nothing more than a phone and a $25 purchase. The platform handles the checkout, the pass, and per-winery redemption tracking in a single branded web flow. No app installation required. No third-party ticketing tool. No equipment for participating wineries to source.
How It Works
The SCM Wine Adventure Pass is available at a branded Seeker XP Paid Pass page. Visitors click and pay through the built-in checkout, then get instant access on any phone with no app download or third party cart required.
Pass holders use their phone to redeem their tasting. Each redemption is logged in real time to the SCM dashboard. The alliance sees which wineries are converting and at what rate from the moment the program opens.
The paid pass runs for 40 days, giving visitors flexibility to explore as many of the 30+ wineries as they want, at their own pace, across the full World Cup timeline.
Activities
Click, Pay, Redeem
Pass holders pay $25 through a branded web checkout and receive instant access to their digital wine pass.
Self-Guided Tasting Redemptions
At each participating winery, pass holders redeem one complimentary tasting. 30+ partners, each visit tracked, each redemption logged.
Real-Time Dashboard Visibility
SCM sees every sale, every redemption, and partner-level performance from a single Seeker XP dashboard, updated in real time from day one of the program.