Tickle your wine-lovers palate at tasting
Grape-crossing ahead
Check out a world of wines with Andy Bakko, a certified sommelier and owner of Wolverine Market, from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday at Rum Runnerz restaurant at 400 Quay St. in downtown Port Huron.
Some wine tasting highlights include a French Bordeaux from Chateau Bateau and Vinho Verde from Portugal. You'll also be introduced to two fun grape varieties.
The Barbera grape is grown mostly in Italy and used in dry red wines. It's more robust and intense than a cabernet. You'll taste this grape in the Barbera D'Alba wine from Italy.
The Dornfelder grape also is a red wine grape, though more on the sweet side. This grape variety was born in 1955 when a man named August Herold crossed two grape varieties -- Helfensteiner and Heroldrebe, the second named after himself -- at a grape breeding institute in Weinsberg, Germany. (How do you get a grape-breeding job?) You'll taste this grape in one of the sweet German reds at the tasting.
Tickets are $25 and include the tasting and appetizers. It's a casual event (jeans are fine) and there will be special offers on all wine purchases (early Christmas shopping!).
Sip and read
You can continue to expand your wine knowledge at a second tasting -- this one's for charity and I can't think of too many things better than sipping wine for charity.
The Blue Water Reading Council is preparing its first fund-raiser this year -- a wine tasting.
The council is the local branch of the Michigan Reading Association Council. It's a nonprofit organization that promotes literacy by educating students, parents, teachers and administrators in St. Clair County. It also reaches out to the community by providing reading materials for new parents at the Well Baby Clinic at the St. Clair County Health Center and distributing "Reading is Fundamental" books to local schools.
You can help by sipping wine and dining on appetizers.
The tasting event is 5 to 7 p.m. Nov. 18 at Rum Runnerz. Admission is $30, which includes the wine tasting, appetizers and door prizes (hint: cool baskets with wine and reading-related items).
The next big thing?
They say Royal Wood is the next great singer/songwriter to come out of Canada.
If you're an über-fan of "The Surreal Gourmet" on the Canadian Food Network and you have the show's soundtrack for background dinner music, you already know who he is.
If you haven't heard of him yet, he's sort of an early Billy-Joel-meets-James-Taylor, dressed like a member of the Kinks. Visit my blog to sample his music.
You can check out Royal Wood at 2 p.m. Nov. 23 at the Sarnia Library Auditorium, 124 S. Christina St., Sarnia. Tickets are $12 in advance or $15 at the door. You can buy them at Cheeky Monkey, 130 S. Christina St., Sarnia, or call (519) 332-1978 to charge by phone.
Check your weekend
Barnes & Noble Booksellers, 4325 24th Ave., Fort Gratiot, is throwing a book fair from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday. A percentage of the proceeds will be donated to the International Symphony Orchestra and the Port Huron Musicale. The two groups will play in the store throughout the day -- what a relaxing way to browse books!
Also on Saturday, you can be one of the first to check out giant bugs. "The World of Giant Insects" exhibit at the Port Huron Museum, 1115 Sixth St., opens and runs through Feb. 16. Check out interactive displays, models and get a hands-on insect experience from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily (the museum, however, is closed major holidays). Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for seniors, $5 for students and free for children 4 and younger. Admission for museum members is $2, with a maximum charge of $5 per family.
You can give your Christmas shopping a jump-start from noon to 4 p.m. today, Saturday and Sunday at the Potters Market at the Citizens First M-TEC Building, 323 Erie St., Port Huron. The market features pottery made by St. Clair County Community College students, faculty and guest potters.
For more craft sales and bazaars, check out the extensive list in this week's Spin in today's paper.