The 7th annual Golden String Radio Wine, Beer and Chocolate Tasting will be held Saturday April 23rd from 7-11. The event will take place at the St. Matthias Father Snock Center, 2800 Shady Run Road in Youngstown.

The event is unique in a couple of ways. First, it combines three things many poeple love. It is fairly common to see wine and chocolate events (I just attended one last week), but it is pretty rare for beer to be offered too. Second, this event focuses on home made winemakers and home brewers from right here in the Valley.

Most charity wine events count on donations from distributors or wineries. The result is that most of the featured wines are national brands available in most area grocery stores. This event will feature beverages that you truly can't get in any store and can only enjoy locally.

Our Valley has a long tradition of people making their own wine and the number of people making their own has risen dramatically over the last few years. Those attending the event will probably taste many of the old world Italian styles of wine, but will likely also taste wines made from grapes purchased from South America, California, and Europe.

The home brewing movement has caught on strong nationally and locally since the boom in the craft beer business started. One of the great things about tasting home brew is that these are truly one of kind brews that won't be duplicated or mass produced. Home brews are made in small batches, which usually means only high quality ingredients go into the finished product.

A shuttle service to the event will run from both The Royal Oaks and Crickets Lounge from 7Pm until midnight. Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 at the door. The proceeds benefit an extrmely worthwhile cause. Golden String Radio is run completely by adults with disabilities who perform all of the day to day functions needed to run a radio station.

You can learn more about Golden String Radio by visiting their web site at www.goldenstringradio.org. If you're looking for something fun and truly local to do this weekend, check out this wonderful event.