Tippling Treats This Weekend (And Beyond)

Now that Lent is but a distant memory, we can take to the bottle again without fear of recrimination.

Tomorrow, Saturday April 25, sees two wine events taking place locally:

The first is at WineStyles in Irvine (Portola Parkway) from 4:00pm to 6:00pm, where you can taste up to six wines for just $5. (The same event runs on Thursday, April 30, from 6:00pm to 8:00pm). If you've more cash to splash, there's the "50 for 50" sale at Charlie Palmer's Next Vintage Wine Shop, which I recently blogged about.

For those who like to pretend that their boozing is educational, there's the free Cheese and Wine Pairing 101 bash at the home store inside Bloomingdale's at SCP on Sunday at 1:00pm. Cathy and Elliott Pavlos from Irvine's Lucca Café will show attendees how to create the perfect five-cheese plate (that would be Manchego, Brie, Ossau-Iraty, Cabrales and Gruyère, surely?), and which vinos to pair with it. Plenty of "yummy samples" (including wine) are promised.

If you fancy exploring the wines of Oregon, on Wednesday, April 29, Sage on the Coast is hosting a tasting of three Willamette Valley wineries--Bethel Heights, Elk Cove and Raptor Ridge. The event runs from 5:00pm to 7:00pm and costs $20 per person.