If you're looking to put some sparkle into your Valentine's Day celebration, you might want to check out Township 7 winery Saturday.
The south Langley winery presents its fifth annual Taste the Stars Valentines Celebration, an affair that marks the release of the locally grown and produced 7 Stars Sparkling wine.
For the first time this year, the winery is offering complimentary wine making seminars on champenoise winemaking and sabering champagne, chocolate-making, and seafood/wine pairing during the afternoon portion (1 and 3 p.m.) of the Feb. 12 event.
Find out how to make the traditional French style of champagne with Township 7 winemaker Bradley Cooper and proprietor Mike Raffan, learn chocolate truffle-making from Chocolaterie Bernard Callebaut, and discover what wine goes best with oysters on the half shell, with Langley's 1 Fish 2 Fish.
The evening's festivities (7 to 10 p.m.) revolve around a celebration of wine, seafood, and live music. Taste your way through rooms of seafood prepared by 1 Fish 2 Fish, taken in a discussion of wine food pairings with Bradley Cooper and visit the chocolate room with Jacqueline Pearson of White Rock's Chocolaterie Bernard Callebaut, who will be rolling dark chocolate truffles. The chef for the evening is Rebecca Troelstra of Mizuna Culinary. Cost is $30 per person. (Call 604-532-1766 or email gail@township7.com for tickets.)
Township 7 was founded in 2001. Wines are made from grapes grown at its Naramata Bench winery, the south Okanagan, and the Fraser Valley.
The grapes used to make Township 7's sparkling wine are grown at the Langley vineyards, next to its wineshop at 21152 16 Avenue , which is hosting the event.
Partial proceeds from the event will be donated to the B.C. chapter of the Starlight Children's Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for children with chronic and life-threatening illnesses by providing entertainment, education and family activities.
The new releases are the Reserve 7 Meritage 2007, the Viognier 2009 and 7 Stars Sparkling 2008 (a limited production of only 55 cases).