1st Annual International Wine Tasting To Benefit Life Haven Held At Anthony’s Ocean View

On September 17, 2009, the First Annual International Wine Tasting was held at Anthony’s Ocean View in New Haven. Anyone who has lived in the greater New Haven area for any length of time has undoubtedly wound up at Anthony’s Ocean View in Morris Cove at one point or other. Since my last visit to this banquet facility, the parking lot had been expanded, resurfaced and lined with pretty flowers and shrubs.

When my companion and I left the dour weather outside and joined the growing crowd, we learned that the event was sponsored by Porcini International

and Scungilli International,

private organizations which conduct year-round fundraisers and donate the proceeds selflessly. This evening’s festivities were staged for the benefit of Life Haven (www.lifehaven.org), a New Haven area shelter for homeless pregnant women and women with young children.

Many individuals and entities deserve credit for donating their time, names, energies and products to this worthy cause. At the top of that long list is Benny Tortora of Grand Vin Wine & Spirits,

a favorite wine shop of mine located at 28 East Grand Avenue in New Haven just across the Grand Avenue Bridge. Over 180 wines from all around the world were featured, with each table representing a distributor, broker or winery. Admission was a mere $50.

“With over 300 people turning out for a first time event, it was a win-win for everyone,” Tortora enthused, “for Life Haven, for participants who gained great exposure, and for members of the public who got to eat an incredible variety of foods and sample a tremendous number of wines.”

Most guests began by trying out the colorful array of foods supplied by Anthony’s Ocean View.

Seafood lovers were in heaven with dishes like mussels marinara.

Pasta lovers could watch pastas being cooked by the Anthony’s Ocean View chefs.

There were even chocolate fountains with pound cake, strawberries and biscotti for dipping.

Once guests got a little food in their stomachs, they were ready to taste the broad array of wines. A survey of the tables included Aurelio Cabestrero of Grapes of Spain,

Carlos Rodriguez of Classic Wines and Grupo Bodegas Ondarre,

and representatives from Iberia Wines,

World Wide Wines,

Ste. Michelle Wine Estates,

Sebastiani Vineyards,

Slocum & Sons,

Jonathan Edwards,

and many many others.

But the star guest of the evening was undoubtedly Aussie wine maker Andrew Hale from Greg Norman Wines (seen here with Tortora),

unless it was these young ladies representing Veuve Cliquot.

Everyone seemed to enjoy himself or herself. Even the folks “manning” the booths got opportunities to slip away and sample some of the foods.

After trying so many wines, I stepped outside into the refreshing sea air to clear all of the cobwebs.

I briefly enjoyed the solitude of the lovely gardens

and the view of Morris Cove and distant New Haven Harbor for which Anthony’s Ocean View is named.

In addition to wine-related displays, there was a jewelry booth that attracted attention.

But the jewelry that attracted the most attention was a necklace

being auctioned,

shown here in a close-up.

Other items were auctioned as well.

The First Annual International Wine Tasting held to benefit Life Haven proved to be an action-packed evening of fund-raising, noshing and wine tasting. A good time was had by all.