Clark County is the place to be Valentine’s Day

Are you in the mood for love, simply because … it’s that weekend?

There’s no shortage of special Clark County Valentine’s Day outings to share with your sweetie. Partake in a fancy meal and some special drinks, groove to smooth, romantic jazz — or step back in time and swing along with the sounds of your parents’ (or grandparents’) generation.

Wine-and-chocolate pairings are the Valentine trend at wineries everywhere, according to Andee Mowrey, the tasting room manager at English Estate Winery in Vancouver. And wineries themselves are a trend in Clark County, where 10 wineries and two tasting rooms have come together to form the new Southwest Washington Winery Association.

“Clark County is more of a destination now,” Mowrey said. “When there were just three wineries up here, people went south of the (Columbia) river to visit wineries. Now, it’s reversed. People like to support local (businesses). And I know people who come up from Portland to visit our wineries. Clark County wineries are for real.”

Whether you’re up for a tasty sampling of wine and chocolate pairings or a cozy curl-up at a single romantic spot — whether you feel like getting all dolled up in period costume or just being your plain, old self — we’ve got you covered for Valentine’s Day weekend.

• Love like an Eagle. The Vancouver Eagles, a longtime fraternal organization that recently remodeled its downtown space, is ready to show off. The Eagles will welcome pianist Tom Grant, his band and singer Shelly Rudolph for a Sweethearts Serenade on Feb. 13 featuring a social hour, dinner and dancing. The musical style of Grant, an Oregon native and Portland-area star, straddles the line between classic jazz, rhythm and blues and smooth, modern pop, with standards and original tunes. He’s joined by frequent collaborator Rudolph, a soulful, sultry chanteuse whose voice has been likened to everyone from Norah Jones to Bonnie Raitt.

Tickets for the event, including dinner (but not pre-dinner drinks at the cash bar) are $50. Proceeds will benefit the selected charities of this Eagles lodge: local food banks, Battle Buddies Northwest, and Alzheimer’s and cancer research.

• Hop, bop and swing. During World War II, pop music was swing, and swing was king — with jazz orchestras led by the likes of Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Glenn Miller playing in ballrooms from coast to coast. Decades later, around the turn of the century, came a resurgence of interest in swing music, with regional bands such as Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and the Swingtown Vipers supplying the soundtrack as a new generation of enthusiasts started learning to stomp, jump and jitterbug. (But what exactly does “swing” music mean? Some musicians insist on a specific definition — a syncopated “shuffle” rhythm with a weak beat sliding into a strong one: Be-bop. Doo-dah. Ba-dum. Now speed that up. Much jazz music is built on this beat. But others say swing is beyond definition: it’s whatever sets your toe tapping and hips wiggling, and stop thinking so hard.)

The Friends of Fort Vancouver is holding its annual Sweetheart Dance Feb. 13 in the hangar at Pearson Air Museum in Vancouver. Live music will be provided by the Beacock Music Swing Band, and you better believe there’ll be dancing, along with light refreshments and a cash bar. Period costume from the swing era — zoot suits and pork-pie hats, shirtdresses and A-line skirts — are encouraged. Tickets are $25 at the door.

• Seductive dining. Downtown Vancouver’s Niche Wine Bar is preparing a special five-course meal on Valentine’s Day that’s sure to get you in the mood for love. Niche’s Aphrodisiac Dinner will include champagne and marcona almonds to start, followed by oysters on the half shell, fennel cream soup, arugula salad, olive oil-poached breast of pheasant and a fig dessert. Each course is paired with wine, of course. Dinner begins at 5 p.m., and the price is $70 per person. Niche is a cozy, little spot — in other words, seating is limited — so you’d be well-advised to make a reservation as soon as possible.

Or, if you prefer a smoky, tangy aphrodisiac, try the Sweetheart Special at Goldies Texas Style BBQ. Beginning at 5 p.m. Feb. 14, two entrees of Goldies special Texas-Louisiana-blended barbecue plus a dessert is $24.99.

• After-dinner adventure. Vancouver’s Latte Da Coffeehouse and Wine Bar is trying a different approach: decadent, specially made desserts and coffees on Feb. 13 (and wine and beer, too). If you don’t want to go home after dinner, go here and settle in. No reservations are necessary. Latte Da is at 205 E. 39th St. and is open until 11 p.m. Saturday.

• Explosive combos. And, of course, there’s wine and chocolate. The new Southwest Washington Winery Association is eager for you to sample some delicious pairings while discovering local wineries you might not even know are there. A dozen county wineries are offering a whole weekend of fermentation-and-confection tastings from noon to 5 p.m. Feb. 13 and 14.

Mowrey, English Estate Winery’s tasting room manager, got together with Peggy Moore of Orchards-based Peggy’s Handmade Chocolates on a recent afternoon to make some matches. Mowrey was nibbling different, delectable chocolates — raspberry, mint, lemon, coconut, caramel — and then tasting different English Estate offerings to see what paired best. What you want, Mowrey said, is a chocolate that sets the stage so the wine that follows “opens up in your mouth and explodes with flavor,” she said.

Check out her explosive combinations — or make your own — and have a totally tasty Valentine’s weekend.