Publisher's Note: This was submitted to FSM and it looks like a night of great wine for a great cause - let me know if anybody will be going...

Lest you guys think I'm some kinda blooming idiot, here's the scoop as of today on the TWO days of decadence we are promoting at the end of this month:   Friday night, January 30th, we're sponsoring a 16-station Cab-based wine tasting/competition.  It's gonna be at the Downtown Hilton (across from the Qwest) and it's a fundraising event benefiting MS.

Here's how it's gonna work: there will be two rooms set up. In the first area, a wine warm-up with a few winemakers showing wines (no Cabs here) to get you warmed up. When you're ready to taste, each paid entrant ($150/person) will be given a clipboard with the names of the 16 wines competing (you will get one ounce of each as you go from station to station), all in alpha order on your score sheet. You also get a seriously good tasting glass (yours to take home) and 16 numbered chips.  You can go to any station in whatever order you want, cash in the appropriate chip for that station (that way you only visit each station once) get your ounce to taste/judge/enter on your score sheet. The room will be set with 25 tables, each seating 10 people (most of the time, you will probably be roaming, but you will have a home base).

One bottle of each wine (approximate value $1500) will be given to some lucky fool that night who has the winning ticket drawn ($25 tickets sold that night)  After all have made the circuit and scored their favorite on their score sheet, the names will be matched to the 16 stations.  While the scores are tallied, there will be a 15-minute "auction" with the big item being a 3-day, 2-night stay at the incredible "Masked Man" vineyard in the heart of the Napa Valley, including airfare, etc. for 4 people; hosted by us OWC guys (Vita & John) who will show the winning bidders a side of Napa they will never forget.

As of today, the winemakers who will be attending (and their wines) include: Gove Celio (winemaker @ Neal Family), showing his newest Cab;  John Higgins (a Creighton Prep grad and owner of Serdonis, a Napa Cab);  Pat Roney (owner of Girard)......the other wines (again, as of today) include Lewis Cellars Reserve Cab (world-premiering at this event); 2480 Cab; Viader; Kenefick; Erna Schein (aka, Behrens & Hitchcock)......others to be figgered out in the next coupla' days.

Don't yet know when tickets available but soon. DAMN, that's a lot of typing for a one-finger typer.