SAN FRANCISCO, April 19, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In the spirit of great pairings, the Hotel Los Gatos is offering Fireside Fridays as the perfect antidote to a busy week in Silicon Valley, starting with a wine and chocolate pairing from 5 pm – 7pm every Friday during April and May. Each week a new pairing may feature local cheeses or an array of delectable tastings. So if this find is not on your radar, the quaint Mediterranean jewel is tucked into the cozy neighborhood of Los Gatos just 14 minutes from San Jose airport. Connoisseurs of local Santa Cruz Mountain wineries will enjoy Testarossa, Thomas Fogarty, the Mountain Winery and a host of impressive vintners worth tasting. Adjacent Dio Deka restaurant, a Michelin-star treasure, rounds out this duo for a well-earned couple's weekend. Reservations for the hotel and conference facility can be booked through www.hotellosgatos.com.
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For those requiring more decadence, oenophiles who are also chocoholics can attend the Rivers of Chocolate festival, held at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga on April 29. The festival has established itself as the premier wine, chocolate and savory tasting event in Northern California. Last year's event featured 80 chocolatiers, restaurateurs, confectioners, vintners, spirit makers, and other vendors. There will also be live music and a live and silent auction.
The festival enables you to taste some amazing chocolate, pastries, hors d'oeuvres, ice cream, gelato, wine, beer, and spirits – all while supporting a good cause. Proceeds support the programs of EHC LifeBuilders, an organization that confronts homelessness by cultivating people's potential to get housed and stay housed. http://riversofchocolate.com/
For those who need more structure to their wine tastings, The Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association hosts quarterly Passport events. As a Passport holder, winery amblers can become acquainted with the incredible diversity of the wines and winemakers of the region. The Mountain Winery Concert package at the Hotel Los Gatos ensures a good slumber, late night snack basket and a VIP parking pass to the concert series.
Passport wineries will be open on the third Saturday of January, April, July and November from 11:00am to 5:00pm, as well as during their regular hours. Each season brings something new to the vineyards; from pruning in the winter to crush in the fall, wineries are bustling with activity year-round! Passport is your opportunity to meet the talented winemakers of the Santa Cruz Mountains and to see where and how they produce some of the world's great wines. With 80 wineries to sojourn to, many not open to the public, wine tasters can take their time. Passport holders will have their passports stamped at each participating winery. These never-expiring passports, when completed, can be turned in for prizes, such as event tickets.
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