JAUNTS : 40 California Wineries to Serve Their Best at Ojai Wine Festival : Up to 5,000 are expected to sample fine vintages and food in picnic atmosphere.

Columnist Art Buchwald said one of the best things about living in France was learning how to tell the difference between red wine and white wine.

You might be a little more savvy. Regardless of your wine expertise, there will be plenty of the red and white stuff at the Ojai Wine Festival this Sunday on the shores of Lake Casitas.

This is the eighth year the Rotary Club of Ojai-West has sponsored the festival, which in past years has drawn anywhere from 3,000 to 5,000 wine lovers.

This year, about 40 California wineries will have their wines available for tasting, along with a group of Australian wines, according to Les Martin, a Rotary Club member.

“People who want to talk about wine have an opportunity to meet the winemaker and find out how it’s made and the character of different wines,” he said.

The festival runs from noon to 5 p.m. Advance tickets (through Friday) are $13.50; or $15 at the gate Saturday. For non-drinkers and those 13 through 20, tickets are $5. Children under 12 are free.

Here’s how it works for those imbibing. Admission gets you a commemorative wineglass and nine tasting tickets. Each ticket entitles you to 1.5 ounces of wine. Additional tickets are $1 each. So you stroll the grounds and sample the Chardonnays, Cabernet Sauvignons and the Burgundies.

If you find a wine you love, you won’t be able to buy any bottles at the festival. The club is very cautious about how much people drink there, Martin said.

“We’re very aware throughout the event of people who might be getting ahead of themselves,” he said. The club will have drivers on hand if someone needs a ride home or a lift to a motel. “We’ve never had a problem,” he said.

He said the festival is more than just drinking wine. Whole families come with picnics or they dine on the food provided by several local restaurants. There is music, activities for children like face painting, and arts and crafts.

For adults who really want to get into the spirit of the festival, they can toss off their shoes for the grape stomping contest.

The festival is a fund-raiser for the charitable projects the Rotary club sponsors locally, like the bicycles and uniforms they supplied for the Police Department’s bike patrol, or the rest stops they built along the Ojai Valley Trail.

Each of the wineries at the event will have four different kinds of wine for people to sample. Local wineries will be there, including Old Creek Ranch & Winery, Ojai Vineyard, and Leeward Winery, as well as many from Santa Barbara County.

For people who want to know more about wine, it’s a chance to schmooze with the winemakers. “Many of them don’t understand the differences,” Martin said. Sampling lets them find out what they like and don’t like.

What’s hot in wine circles now? According to Martin, who also owns the liquor store known as the Attitude Adjustment Shop in Ojai, “red wines are coming into demand.”

Details

* WHAT: Ojai Wine Festival

* WHEN: Sunday, from noon to 5 p.m.

* WHERE: The shores of Lake Casitas, near the intersection of Highways 150 and 33, near Ojai.

* COST: For adults, advance tickets (through Friday) are $13.50, or $15 at the gate. For non-drinkers and those ages 13 to 20, tickets are $5. Children under 12, free. For ticket information, call 800-648-4881.

* FYI: There is a $2 parking charge.