It has been ages since I have posted on my blog. In the interim, I did a couple of presentations on Prosecco DOC for trade and consumers, translated for the vice-president of the Brunello Consortium during a few interviews and annoyed all of you with invitations to upcoming Italian and Chilean events. What I didn’t do is reach out to anyone affected by Sandy. I am thinking of everyone today with this awful storm. I did do some volunteer work however. I am doing a wonderful pro-bono project for an organization called Brick by Brick which works in Uganda, a country I developed an interest in after meeting some great people from there who were working to provide clean water to kids such as those on the home page of Brick by Brick.
Others are doing much for the Sandy relief effort however, I’m glad to see.
Nicolas Palazzi just posted this on his magical pmspirits.com page.
Please take a few minutes to read the message below (and take action):
DeVine Intervention Wine Auction:
“DeVine Intervention is a charity online wine auction to benefit those still trying to get their lives back to normal after Hurricane Sandy. After the hurricane, we all worked hard to look out for our immediate teams and restaurants and get things back up and running. It was the wise words of Billy Shore from Share our Strength who advised and said that often in disasters like this, after three months the press moves on but people still need help. With this in mind we have partnered with Sotheby’s and Western Carriers in order to help the restaurant and wine community band together to help those still in need.
The website is now live http://www.de-vineintervention.com and Wine Spectator even gave us a shout out – http://www.winespectator.com/webfeature/show/id/47968.
It is important to us that every penny of the auction (no buyer’s premium either!) will go straight to the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City who retains no admin fees at all. In short, every penny of every lot will go straight to those who need our help in recovering and rebuilding their lives.
We already have many donations from marquee producers (Krug, Salon, Lanson, DRC, Rousseau, Mascarello, Quintarelli, Lafite, Peter Michael, Rudd, etc., etc.). The donations are coming from restaurants, Chefs, Somms, retail shops, importers and wineries. Donations have come from New York, France, California, even Boulder Colorado (Thanks Bobby!) all with the hope of getting NYC back to normal. The goal is to band together the wine world to make a difference. We are shooting for 250 lots and hoping to raise a quarter million for the cause. With this in mind, we are hoping to raise an average of $1,000 per lot. A lot could be anything from a bottle to a six pack to a six liter – we are just looking for great wines which will command interest at auction.
We wanted to make it as easy as possible if you want to be a part. Just pull a great bottle from your cellar or the restaurant and send it to Western Carriers. Along With Sotheby’s, we will take care of the rest.
Please let me know if you have any questions that Danny and I can help with.
Please feel free to spread however you might like and know that we really appreciate your help!”
JOHN RAGAN • MASTER SOMMELIER, WINE DIRECTOR
DEVINE INTERVENTION • @DEVINEAUCTION
UNION SQUARE
HOSPITALITY GROUP
