For instance, Plantation House at Kapalua will uncork a four-course wine dinner featuring the varietals of Ferrari Carano vineyards and winery of Sonoma at 6 p.m. Friday. PH Sommelier Claudio Giordano will pair fine wines with butternut-squash tortellini, pork loin and more created by Executive Chef Eric Purugganan. Cost is $100, plus tax and gratuity. Call 669-6299.

Wailuku Restaurateur Jennifer Nguyen just got back from her native Vietnam, and says that she’ll throw another wine tasting with pupu at her A Saigon Cafe on the third Thursday of this month.

Executive Chef Joel Harrington of Hotel Lanai will pop open a wine dinner May 20 featuring the fine wines of Melville Winery with venison and such.

Alan Jahns of Paradise Beverages generously donated fabulous wines for the Spring Student Celebration Dinner at University of Hawaii Maui College Leis Family Class Act restaurant last week.

“It’s showy to pour magnums of wines. Of course, it’s not good for your carpel tunnel,” he said, tongue-in-cheek, about what’s trending in the wine world.

Jahns also said other wine trends include sparkling wines. “Very trendy now,” he said. “Wines in cans are the future. I remember we would wring our hands over Stelvin screw caps and said it was ‘never going to happen.’ We’ll see a lot more wines in kegs, too. New Zealand wines, consolidated wineries, such as Calera bought by Duckhorn, and more and more vegan-friendly wines that are not clarified with egg whites, such as Laurent Perrier.”

Jahns will also bring in trendy boutique wineries for Maui Calls, Maui Arts & Cultural Center’s signature fundraiser, set for Aug. 17. And beer lovers are gearing up for Maui Brewers Festival on May 18 at the MACC, featuring 100 beers from 43 brewers, food from 20 top isle eateries and food trucks, and live music galore. For tickets to MACC events, call 242-7469.

Seats are going fast for the Peacefulness Through a Bowl of Tea ceremony from 2 to 4 p.m. May 19 at the MACC’s Schaefer International Gallery in Kahului. Held in conjunction with the “Sidney Yee: Wabi-Sabi” exhibit, it will include Matcha green tea and a sweet, and you may even brew tea in the 400-year-old Japanese ‘Sen no Rikyu” tradition. The enlightening ceremony lasts one and a half hours. Cost is $25. Reservations are required. Email shannon @mauiarts.org.

Also at the Class Act dinner was Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa Executive Chef Greg Grohowski, who just got back from an event at the Kahala Hotel & Resort on Oahu, where the lineup for October’s statewide Hawaii Food & Wine Festival was announced.

Grohowski will host the Pasta La Vista event at his Hyatt property in Kaanapali Oct. 20 as part of HFWF with celeb chefs such as Celestino Drago cooking and world-famous winemakers pouring their goods.

Talk about eco-friendly! Drink freshly squeezed juices at Moku Roots in Lahaina by sipping through papaya stems instead of plastic straws. The organic stems are picked from trees at co-owner Alexa Caskey’s farm.

Next week, it’s off to the food realm in Side Orders.