Wine Tasting/Food Pairing Fundraiser a SUCCESS!
Rotary Around the World Wine Tasting/Food Pairing Event A tremendous success
Last Saturday evening, June 20th, the club's first annual wine tasting/food pairing event held at West Haven Golf and Country club was a huge success. Malcolm Cocks, pictured above, gave a wonderful presentation on the 6 different wines we tasted during the evening. The wines were paired with appetizers created by the West Haven chef to specifically complement the wine. It was quite amazing how much the flavour of a wine can change when it is paired with a complementary food.
The evening started for our guests with them being escorted by golf cart to the front entrance. After registering they had the chance to review the silent auction with the many donations grouped into beautifully packaged baskets while listening to the live music of Doug Varty. John McDonald was our Master of Ceremonies and did a wonderful job of keeping the evening moving along. The wine tasting began around 7:2 0pm with the introduction of the first wine by Malcolm Cocks (pictured below), a Spanish Cava, followed by the food pairing, Pork in mole rojo on a tostada with quesco fresco. In total we tasted wine from Spain, Germany, Italy, South Africa and Australia each paired with an appetizer representative of the region. The "7th" and final course was ice cream with fresh strawberries drizzled with a dessert wine. The food was superb and really complimented the wine. Malcolm's presentation gave us more insight into wine making and how different climates, grapes, soil, and fermentation all impact upon the quality and flavour of the wine.
The evening continued with an impromptu live auction that raised an additional $500 with Rotarian Jim Swan acting as the auctioneer. This was followed by the announcement of the winning ticket for the Niagara on the Lake Raffle. The prize included 1 nights accommodation; 2 tickets to the Shaw Festival; $150 gift certificate for dinner; and, a wine tour, valued at $600. We printed 200 tickets and sold 200 tickets. The winning ticket was #117 held by Louise Raymond of London. At the same time the silent auction bidding was brisk as the closing of the auction approached. It is estimated the silent auction raised over $2,000.
It was an excellent evening with everyone having a wonderful time. Michael Wibbing was our official photographer and you will find his pictures from this event in our photo album as well as the three included in this story.