� Take your sweet baboo on a drive through the Hill Country for a taste of Merlot and Delysia chocolates at Becker Vineyards (www.beckervineyards.com, 830/644-2128). No reservations required for the complimentary tasting; chocolates will be for sale also. To attend the catered Valentine’s lunch­eon ($65 a person) or the Valentine’s dinner ($85), check out the menus online and call for reservations. Satur­day, Feb. 13, 10am-6pm; Sunday, Feb. 14, noon-6pm.

� Experience the sensuous combination of Port, chocolates, and cigars at Fumée Cigar Lounge in Cedar Park (2403 S. Bell Blvd., 512/291-3863, www.fumeeworld.com). A $40 advance couple’s ticket ($20 single) buys tastes of Quinta du Noval Port, chocolates from Viva Chocolato, and two cigars. Couples’ tickets will be $45 at the door. Sunday, Feb. 14, 7-10pm.

� Aspiring mixologists will want to sign up for Tipsy Tech, a 12-week intensive academic program covering all aspects of recreational imbibing. Weekly classes will be taught by award-winning Tipsy Texan bartender David Alan and Lara Nixon and guest speakers at the Twin Liquors Mar­ket­place (1000 E. 41st). Enrollment fee is $350 for the entire course, $250 for members of the U.S. Bartenders’ Guild. Students not seeking program certification can attend individual classes for $35, space permitting. The registration deadline has been extended, so check out the class schedule at www.tipsytexan.com and sign up using PayPal at www.theblueruin.com. Tuesday, Feb. 16, 5:30-7:30pm.

� Freebirds World Burrito (www.freebirds.com) and its charitable arm, Freebirds World Works, celebrate the opening of a new store in Round Rock (200 University Blvd., 904-0070) with charity partner the Central Texas chapter of Concerns of Police Survivors. Thursday, Feb. 18, all day.

� The University of Texas speaker series on the Foodways of Mexico continues with a free presentation by culinary historian Rachel Laudan titled “Transplanted Cuisines: Migrants in the Making of Mexican Cuisine” at the Long Center for the Performing Arts (701 W. Riverside), AT&T Educa­tion Room. Thursday, Feb. 18, 6-7:30pm.

This article appears in February 12 • 2010.

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