Two major wine events coming quickly: Winemakers Celebration and SLH Gala.

The month of May is officially National Bike Month, Jewish-American Heritage Month, Better Hearing and Speech Month and National Guide Dog Month.

But for Monterey County wine lovers, it's Dreamscape Month. 

Two of the very best local wine events all year happen in successive Saturdays in May, and both sell out reliably, hence the early heads up.

First up is the Monterey County Vintners & Growers' flagship showcase, the annual Winemakers Celebration, now in its 24th year, noon-5pm Saturday, May 7, on Dolores Street and Seventh Avenue in Carmel.

The closed-street setting has been a hit since it was instituted a couple of years back, and this year's enjoys an expanded space.

Forty of the county's 56 or so wineries are members of the MCVGA and will appear to pour.

Moreover, a powerhouse group of restaurants chefs up small plates fresh from the street including Affina, Basil Seasonal Dining, Cypress Inn, la Balena, il Tegamino, Nothing Bundt Cakes, PortaBella, St. Tropez, Vesuvio, Il Fornaio, Mundaka and Alvarado Street Brewery & Grill.

VIP credentials include workshops and a master somm tasting at the event center at Seventh and Dolores.

"Somm tours" of local tastemakers' favorite local wines return after a successful year one.

Casey Frazier, Johann Sotelo and DJ Bad DJ all perform too.

Tickets are $75 at Monterey Wine Country website (with various discounts for DDs and add-ons for tours and blending seminars).

Also on the grape vine horizon: Santa Lucia Highlands' annual gala tasting 1-4pm Saturday, May 14, at Mer Soleil Winery's huge barrel room (1290 River Road, Salinas).

The lineup is legion: August West, Belle Glos, Bernardus, Black Kite, Boekenoogen, Brack Mountain, Bruliam, Estancia, Hahn Family Wines, Hope & Grace, J. Lohr Highlands Bench, J. McFarland, Joyce, Kosta Browne, La Rochelle, Loring, Luli, Mansfield-Dunne, Manzoni, McIntyre, Mer Soleil, Miner, Miura, Mooney, Morgan, Odonata, Pessagno, Pisoni (and Lucia), Poppy, Prim Family, Puma Road, Roar, Sarah's Vineyard, Scheid, Siduri/Novy, Smith Family, Talbott, Tantara, Testarossa, Tondre, Tudor, Twomey, Windstream and Wrath.

That amount of wineries, while impressive (and a reminder of SLH's powerful terroir), is an annual occurrence, and often involves limited release and other highly allocated wines to honor the appellation's loyal wine lovers.

It's the food department where last year's installment took a quantum leap, thanks in part to the hustle of event chair Stefani Chaney.

This year it honors a "locavore" theme with a knockout lineup including Soerke Peters from Basil, Cal Stamenov from Bernardus Lodge's Lucia, Tim Wood from Carmel Valley Ranch, Brad Briske from la Balena,  James Waller from the Monterey Plaza Hotel, Shiho Fukishima from Ocean Sushi, Todd Fisher from Tarpy's, Michael Burke of Star Market, Katie Shea of Bar Cart Cocktail Company and James Anderson of Poke Lab.

Schoch Dairy Farmstead, Zio Sausage, Main Street Bakery, La Plaza Bakery, Marich Chocolates and Carmel Valley Roasting Company also participate. A big-bottle silent auction benefits Dorothy's Kitchen. Live music tunes up the scene. And a pre-gala reception and dinner happens Friday, May 13 at Hahn Family Winery.

Tickets are $95 at Santa Lucia Highlands website.

If there are two better back-to-back Saturdays for local wine lovers, please let me know.