Wine Tasting Fund Raiser

November 15, 2014

Nothing brings people together like wine.

On November 15, the St. Susanna Knights of Columbus proved that raising money for worthy causes like St. Joseph’s Orphanage and St. Susanna Outreach Ministries can be a very enjoyable, entertaining, and rewarding experience.   It is only the second wine tasting event held by the Knights, and we already doubled attendance over the first event as people brought more friends and word has begun to spread about this fun evening!  We were also blessed to have Father Bishop join in our fellowship.

            The theme of this wine tasting was Australian wines.   Participants brought 2 bottles of the same wine to the event.   The first bottle was bagged and numbered while the second bottle was set aside.   Everyone could blind taste the numbered wines, and casually share their thoughts with new friends encountered throughout the evening.   At the end of the evening, everyone’s votes for the best tasting red and white wines were tallied, and the winners were unveiled.   A benefit of the evening is to discover (and make note) of some new wines one might like!

The top three winners of the red wine tasting are listed below and each winner received 6 bottles of red wine to take home with them:

1^st : David & Carla Gerberry  (Lindeman’s Bin 50 Shiraz 2013)

1^st : Tom & Cindy Skinner  (Yellowtail Cabernet 2013)

1^st : Jim & Sylvia Marks (Lindeman’s Bin 50 Shiraz 2013)

The top three winners of the white wine category, each received 2 bottles of wine to take home with them:

1^st: Diane St. Arnold (Jacob’s Creek, Pinot Grigio 2013)

2^nd: John & Kelley O’Lone (Rosemont Estate Chardonnay Semillon 2012)

3^rd: Joseph & Regina Peterson (Seifried Pinot Gris)

Thank you to everyone who helped make this event a success!  Of special note, I would like to thank these special Knights, spouses, and friends for their help.  This event truly would not have been possible with their contributions:

• Ted Korte – Superb job helping people sign in, purchase tickets, processing wines, passing out hors d'oeuvres, taking photos, set up and break down, helping with “unveiling ceremony,” and helping post the sign out front!
• Paul & Eileen Sobol – great help with signing people in, set up and break down, socializing and making everyone feel welcome!
• Jim Marks – thank you for reserving the club house, set up and breakdown, socializing and making everyone feel welcome!
• Mark Ramirez (and children, Emily & Matthew) – Excellent job planning the food, passing out beautifully arranged trays of hors d'oeuvres, and continually “wowing” the crowd!
• Jeff & Rhonda Tull, and Joe & Regina Peterson – Great job processing the bottles of wine!  This was challenging as you had to open each bottle, number the bags correctly, and tie them, and place them out for guest to enjoy!  Also for helping with the “unveiling ceremony”!