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Camillus House News
The 13th annual Miami Wine and Food Festival raises money to improve lives in South Florida
Miami Wine & Food Festival Director Lyn Farmer with Sue Gallagher and Stephane Vivier of HdV Wines.
Benefiting Camillus House and United Way of Miami-Dade, the 13th annual Miami Wine and Food Festival, hosted this year by Stephen Lewandowski, executive chef of New York’s Tribeca Grill, delighted Miami’s wine, culinary and philanthropic VIPs with an exciting three-day line up of wining, dining and donating that grossed nearly $1 million dollars for the community. The festival is South Florida’s premier charity wine and food event.
Live and silent auctions alone brought in nearly $700,000 in revenues. Auctioneers Fritz Hatton and Elyse Luray presided over the spirited bidding. Top wine and travel lots auctioned at the festival included:
- An exclusive dinner for seven lucky wine aficionados with Robert Parker, the world’s foremost wine critic, at Parker’s favorite restaurant, Charleston, in his hometown of Baltimore. The lot, which included travel on a private jet from Miami to Baltimore, raised a whopping $56,000 for charity.
- An 11-vintage vertical of Château Pétrus, including one 750ml bottle each from the following vintages: 1975, 1982, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 sold for $36,000.
- Six-day cruise aboard C’est La Vie, a 97.5’ private sailing yacht owned by Jodi and Bob Dickinson, with a four person crew and two sets of business class tickets to the Caribbean on American Airlines, was gaveled down for $18,000.
- A 12-bottle Vertical of Cult-Wine Bryant Family Vineyard Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon - one each from 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2004, sold for $13,000
- Two dinners for eight at the Dickinson home, featuring haute cuisine prepared by Jodi and stellar wines from Bob’s cellar raised $31,000.
- A twelve-day Eastern Mediterranean and Greek Isle cruise for two on Oceania’s M/S Nautica, sailing from Istanbul to Rome, garnered $14,000.
- A trip to the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival, with tickets to opening night, two nights at the Mandarin Oriental, dinner at Nobu, Tribecal Grill and the Mandarin’s Asiate, with first class tickets from American Airlines, sold twice, each time for $10,000.
- A trip to New York to spend a day in the kitchen with chef Stephen Lewandowski sold two times, generating more than $7,500 for charity. Lewandowski was the featured chef of the 2008 Miami Wine & Food Festival.
The 2008 Miami Wine and Food festival kicked off with a walk-around tasting at Village of Merrick Park on Thursday, April 3, 2008, featuring more than 60 wineries and 30 of South Florida’s top restaurants and caterers. Restaurants participating in Friday’s Taste and Toast included North One 10, Cacao Restaurant, La Cofradia, Ortanique on the Mile, Talula, among many others.
Friday night, April 4, belonged to renowned chef Lewandowski, who led a crowd of nearly 500 through an interactive dinner during which each table prepared their own four-course meal. The menu for the Food, Friends and Fun Interactive Dinner included curried chick pea and tomato soup with cilantro, chili and lime; seared sea scallops topped with wild asparagus, morels and truffle Madeira vinaigrette; and black trumpet crusted lamb loin with spring vegetables, orzo robiola risotto. The dinner concluded with a triple chocolate mousse gateau with gold leave chocolate truffle garnished with a chocolate twirl, prepared by Chef Alex Fehrer, executive chef, InterContinental Miami. The festival culminated on Saturday, April 5, with the Bubbles, Bids & Bites Auction and Dinner, featuring live and silent auctions of exotic travel packages and a world class collection of rare wines.
“We are also grateful to those who stepped up and contributed their time and resources, particularly the corporate sponsors, wine distributors, airlines, cruise lines, private wine collectors and bighearted bidders, who all came together to help Camillus House and United Way increase our ability to improve people’s lives,” Harve A. Mogul, president and CEO, United Way of Miami-Dade, said.
"We were thrilled to join United Way once again in this incredible fundraiser,” Dr. Paul R. Ahr, president and CEO, Camillus House, said. “This event truly changes lives in our community, as those who care are able to share their compassion with those in need."
A committee of nearly two dozen volunteers, led by the festival director Lyn organized the 2008 Miami Wine and Food Festival. Serving on the committee were Mike Bittel, Sunset Corners Fine Wine & Spirits; Mark Bloom, Greenberg Traurig; Tony Cabrera, the Epoch Corporation; Kate Callahan, the Huntington Consulting Group; Bob Dickinson, Mike Farra, Morrison, Brown, Argiz and Farra LLP; Sue Gallagher, Gallagher Financial Systems; Dan Hanrahan, Celebrity Cruises; Ed Joyce, Northern Trust Bank; Peter “Chip” Vandenberg, Jr., Trivest Partners L.P.; Elizabeth and Tom Smith, The Wine News, Jim Russell; and Ariel Solorzano.
Sponsors of the 2008 Miami Wine and Food Festival included: American Airlines; Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Florida; Brickell Motors; Carnival Cruise Lines; Cooper DDB; DiMare Fresh; Eos Airlines; Equivoice, Inc.; FPL; GMCVB; Greenberg Traurig, PA; Jodi and Bob Dickinson; Macy's; Merrill Lynch; Miami Heat; The Miami Herald/el Nuevo Herald; Miccosukee Resort & Gaming; Nespresso Coffee; Ocean Bank; Oceania Cruises; Qantas Vacations; Regions; Regent Seven Seas Cruises; Royal Caribbean International/Celebrity Cruises; Ryder System; Smartmatic Corporation; South African Airlines; Starboard Cruise Services; Steiner Leisure; Williamson Cadillac HUMMER; The Wine News; The Yachts of Seabourn and Zuni Transportation.
About Camillus House
Serving the South Florida community since 1960, Camillus House is a nonprofit organization that provides humanitarian services to men, women and children who are poor and homeless. Camillus House offers a full continuum of services that includes food, shelter, housing, rehabilitative treatment, and health care, in an effort to end poverty in Miami-Dade. Each service is carried out with the deeply held belief that every human being deserves love, respect and an opportunity to live a dignified life. For more information, go to www.camillus.org.
About United Way of Miami-Dade
United Way is working to advance the common good by creating opportunities for a better life for all. We are focused on improving education, income and health – the building blocks for a good life. Our goal is to create long-lasting changes that prevent problems from happening in the first place. We invest in quality programs, advocate for better policies, engage people in the community and generate resources. For more information, go to www.unitedwaymiami.org
