ANNA MARIA – The Center of Anna Maria Island is changing up its events and its newest entry, a wine tasting with friends, is a hit with attendees.
The inaugural Wine Tasting with Center Friends, an evening featuring the wines, wit and wisdom of Thomas Jefferson, debuted March 19 with a sold-out audience of more than 200 attendees.
This first event, created by the same committee that organized the Tour of Homes for two decades at The Center, paid homage to the Tour while getting attendees excited for the future of new events helping to bring community to the Island while raising funds for the nonprofit Center. While the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the 2020 Tour of Homes and eventually brought the long-standing Tour to an end, the first of an annually planned wine tasting event honored the Tour by raffling off the 20th and final quilt and featured a miniature version of the Tour’s boutique.
The quilt, created by the Eyeland Needlers, was the final one of 20 quilts created to raise funds for The Center. In honor of her years of contribution to the Tour quilt, local artist Joan Pettigrew pulled the winning raffle ticket during the wine tasting event.
The wine tasting also featured one-of-a-kind artwork created by local artists and up for silent auction. Artists who donated a piece of artwork for the silent auction include Joann Taylor Brown, Wooley Dutton, Emerson, Robert Johnson, Janet Kingan, Maro Lorimer, Jean Murray, Cathy Tobias, Barbara Truemper-Green and Joan Voyles.
And while the art on display was a highlight, the real showstoppers of the new event were the seven wines tasted by attendees with sommelier and certified wine educator MaryKate Scott as the host for the evening.
Guests were greeted at the door with a glass of Crement, a sparkling wine. This Brut was an Antoine Muller Blanc de Blanc. As the night progressed, Scott told the story of Thomas Jefferson’s travels and influences as a young man up until he entered the White House and how those influences shaped the wine that he drank. Guests enjoyed three white wines and three red wines while also dining on charcuterie boards. The featured wines included a Les Dauphins Cotes du Rhone white wine, a Borsao Spanish Macabeo Chardonnay, an Affreschi Pinot Grigio, a Domaine de Briante of Brouilly Beaujolais, a Tomaiolo Chianti and a Lewis and Clark Merlot.
All of the featured wines were available for sale at $25 per bottle of $100 for five bottles from the Olive Oil Outpost with half of the proceeds going to The Center.
Kelly Kary and the Olive Oil Outpost served as featured sponsors of the event with Coldwell Banker, Diamond Turf, Beach Bums, Tom Sanger Pool & Spa, Sato Real Estate and Moss Builders as table sponsors.
