A la carte: Holiday food and wine events for the whole family

SONOMA VALLEY: Holiday open house features tastings

Toast the holiday season during the Heart of Sonoma Valley's Holiday Open House from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 25 and 26. Seventeen wineries will offer wine tastings, gifts and other holiday cheer.

Advance tickets are $45 for a two-day pass, $10 for designated drivers. Tickets at the door are $55 for a two-day pass, $15 for designated drivers. store.heartofsonomavalley.com.

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ALEXANDER VALLEY: Black Friday open house

Eight wineries in the Alexander Valley will open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 25 for the annual Black Friday Open House, including wine and food pairing, holiday gift shopping and special discounts.

Participating wineries include Alexander Valley Vineyards, Field Stone, Hanna, Medlock Ames, Soda Rock, Delorimier, White Oak and Stuhlmuller Vineyard. Tickets are $35, $25 for designated drivers. To reserve: eventbrite.com.

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NAPA: Cooking at Copia with hands-on demos

The Culinary Institute of America at Copia has opened to the public, with hands-on and demonstration-style cooking classes taught by CIA instructors and expert guest lecturers.

On Sundays, there will be classes for the whole family. Other classes explore food and wine pairings, holiday entertaining, food preservation and chefs' special topics. Classes run one to two hours in length and range from $15 to $60.

- Preserving: Beyond Canning will be given at 10:30 a.m. Nov. 27 for $30. The class explores methods such as confit, salting and drying to make foods such as rillettes and gravlax.

- Savvy Chef: Honey Secrets will be given at 3:30 p.m. Nov. 25 and Dec. 14 and 30, plus 10:30 a.m. Dec. 29, for $25. The class will explore how honey is made and the types of honey used in a variety of foods.

- Pairing Basics: Let's Talk about Sauce will be given at 1 p.m. Nov. 18, at 1:30 p.m. Nov. 23 and Dec. 21, and at 10:30 a.m. Dec. 10 for $40. The class will explore five different sauces and wines, plus how to adjust them with salt, chiles, lime, cheese and bacon.

- A Family Funday class on Brunch Batters will be given at 1:30 p.m. Nov. 20 and Dec. 11 for $15. The interactive, demonstration class will provide cooking techniques and recipes for the home cook.

For more information, go to enthusiasts.ciachef.edu/cia-at-copia. Copia is located at 500 First St.

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NAPA VALLEY: Wine Train goes Polar Express

The Napa Valley Wine Train will bring back the enchanted Santa Train for a Polar Express-like journey between Nov. 19 and Dec. 29.

The Santa Train will provide interactive and musical journeys to Santa's Workshop.

The train will run Monday through Thursday, departing at 5:45 p.m. and returning by 7 p.m. On Friday through Sunday, the Santa Train departs at 8:45 p.m. and returns at 10 p.m.

Train fare starts at $55, with a photo op with Santa before departing the station. To reserve, call 800-427-4124. winetrain.com.

Staff writer Diane Peterson can be reached at 521-5287 or diane.peterson@pressdemocrat.com.