ShopEatSleep

Wine? Why not! Photo by Christina Lam.

This Friday, Feb. 18, is National Drink Wine Day. Now, we all know that you don’t need a special reason to drink wine, but now you can say you’re doing your civic duty when your boss asks why you’re having that bottle — er, glass — of pinot at 10:00 a.m.

Here are a few ways to celebrate.

While not technically happening on National Drink Wine Day, Pourtal wine bar is hosting tonight a screening of the documentary “Merlove: A Documentary about Merlot” with writer and director Rudolf McClain. As you watch, sip on some of the bar’s merlot Merlove and white wine Labor of Love-themed wines. Screening is free, but the wine costs money.

Pourtal
104 Santa Monica Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90401

Wednesday, February 16, 2011
8:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.

On Friday, downtown Los Angeles’ Corkbar will offer a specially-priced flight of three wines for $10. And if you check in on Foursquare and unlock the Swarm badge, you’ll get extended happy hour specials, including $2 off drafts, $8 select wines and half-priced select appetizers, for the rest of the night.

Corkbar
403 W. 12th St.
Los Angeles, CA 90015

Also, Napa Valley Grille in Westwood will host Friday a “Guess the Grape” game led by Wine Director Christina Sherwood. Guests will be invited to sample a grape varietal not listed on the menu, and if they answer correctly will be rewarded with a complimentary glass of wine. Free wine, woo!

Napa Valley Grille
1100 Glendon Ave. Suite 100
Los Angeles, CA 90024

Drago Centro charcuterie plate. From Dig Lounge.

Whether you plan on celebrating Valentine’s Day or not — or just haven’t made up your mind yet — here are some special meals that will be happening around Los Angeles.

To Celebrate

Drago Centro: From Feb. 12 to 14, Drago Centro is offering a four-course dinner for $55, with wine pairings for an additional $35. (Limited à la carte menu items will be available, too.) Here are the menu choices:

First course — beef carpaccio, hearts of palm and candied almonds, or antipasto plate

Second course — butternut squash ravioli with lemon brown butter, or shrimp and scallop agnolotti with cioppino foam

Third course — roasted lamb with artichoke hearts, brown butter pomme purée and rapini, or Dover sole, baby vegetable ragoût and lemon beurre blanc

Fourth course — strawberry semifreddo with basil and white chocolate, or chocolate cake, candied Marcona almonds and raspberries

Also, on Feb. 14 the restaurant will be hosting a masquerade carnival with live music, and guests are encouraged to dress up, too.

Cecconi’s: The West Hollywood eatery is offering its full à la carte menu, a tasting menu for $85, and an optional wine pairing for an additional $45. The tasting menu includes wild mushroom cappuccino; dungeness crab, ahi tuna and avocado; winter black truffle and ricotta ravioli; chateaubriand for two, winter root vegetables and a peppercorn sauce; and a layered chocolate cake, kirsh cherries and whipped cream.

Pourtal: The Santa Monica wine bar is offering two-for-one glasses of bubbly on Feb. 14 from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Choose from the featured selection of Marquis de Perlade Blanc de Blanc or a Kir Royale. Cupid will be there to pass out secret Valentines to guests who purchase bubbly or a tasting card; they will receive a free pour ranging from on Pourtal’s Enomatic machines.

Cube: Head over to Cube Marketplace’s cafe on Feb. 13 for a fondue party. Ok, not really, but you can get the fondue special and make it your own party! For $35, you can get prosecco, cheese fondue, roasted farmers market vegetables and fresh fruit, house-baked bread, Meyer lemon coeur a la crème, farmers market berries, citrus cookies — and house-made dark chocolate truffles and confections to take home.

Not To Celebrate

Charlie’s Malibu: On Feb. 13, Charlie’s will host “Bitter, Party of 1” for singles (or as its press release says, “couples welcome, but we may mock them”) with tunes from DJ Kid Wycked from 9:00 p.m. to close. And on both Feb. 13 and 14, the restaurant will offer a four-course chef’s tasting menu for $75, with a $20 wine pairing, along with the regular à la carte and lounge menus. The tasting menu includes dishes such as poached pear with herbed goat cheese and candied walnuts, filet mignon, and lobster tail. You don’t have to eat with a Valentine, you know.

Rush Street: On Feb. 13, the Culver City bar and restaurant will host a Meet Your Valentine party with specialty cocktails and artisanal chocolates. There will be no prix fixe menu. On Feb. 14, diners can enjoy half-off featured wine and champagne all day long.

Akasha: Take home a box of 12 mini cupcakes for $20 from the Culver City restaurant’s bakery to serve at your anti-Vday party — or eat them yourself, I don’t judge. Flavors include chocolate and vanilla cakes with different frosting and icing. The chocolate with Gianduja (that’s a chocolate/hazelnut combo) filling, chocolate glaze and fleur de sel sounds awesome!

Pourtal, the Santa Monica wine bar with those fancy-schmancy Enomatic wine dispensers, is offering a month-long in January “wine tour” featuring Malibu-made wines. The best part is you don’t have to actually trek to Malibu to taste the wines because Pourtal will have them all in one place for you. Even better? A free launch party tomorrow night, Jan. 6, from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., to kick off the tour. Admission is free, but you do have to buy a $15 tasting card, which gives you access to all 10 of the featured Malibu wines and additional hand pourings from off-list wines by representatives of the wineries (there will also be free appetizers).

Here’s the list of the 10 wines that will be available any time for a “tour” throughout January, as well as during the launch party:

2006 Hoyt Family Vineyards Chardonnay
2008 Republic of Malibu Pink Lady Rosé
2007 Cielo Malibu Rouge
2001 Semler Cabernet Sauvignon Library Release
2005 Semler Syrah
2005 Rosenthal Malibu Newton Canyon Merlot
2004 Rosenthal Surfrider Red
2007 Griffin Family Vineyard Malbec
2007 Malibu Vineyards “Vortex” Sangiovese
2008 Malibu Sanity Pinot Noir, Schetter Malibu Vineyard

Here’s the schedule of additional hand-poured tastings from individual wineries:

Jan. 13, 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.: Semler and Saddlerock
Jan. 20, 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.: Cielo
Jan. 21, 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.: Rosenthal
Jan. 27, 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.: Hoyt and Malibu Sanity
Jan. 28, 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.: Malibu Vineyards and Griffin Family Vineyards

I’m not a big wine drinker, but I’ve had the Semler Cabernet Sauvignon (I can’t remember the exact year), and it was amazing. So $15 for access to 10+ Malibu wines sounds like a great deal.

Just opened:

• Tavern From Suzanne Goin and Caroline Styne (AOC, Lucques, Hungry Cat) comes the ladies’ newest creation, a restaurant/lounge/marketplace, in Brentwood. Yes, it did open today. I called.

• Pourtal A high-tech wine bar in Santa Monica, Pourtal offers wine via preloaded punch cards and electronic dispensers. Fancy.

To open in the near future:

• Trader Vic’s The Beverly Hills institution moves downtown to L.A. Live. Scheduled to open Saturday, May 2.

• La Grande Orange Cafe The Santa Monica location is scheduled to open May 7. Food being tested and staff being trained, according to tweets from @LaGrandeOrange. Pizza will be added to the menu at the new location, with Pasadena getting pizza some time this fall.

• Playhouse and Sweet Love Hangover The nightclub/24-hour restaurant taking over the Fox Theater space on Hollywood Boulevard is now slated to open June 11. We’ll see. This is like the third or fourth time the opening date has been pushed back.