From left: Carol Koby, Rich Leffler & Joan Leffler
The Rotary Wine Fellowship Group enjoyed a great tasting at Mike Wilson’s home on Sunday, the 18th of November. This event marked the group’s 8th Annual Fundraiser for the UW Rotaract’s Mashambanzou orphanage project.
The 18 participants tasted 18 different wines, and most were available for sale for the cause.
Two Rotaract representatives (Charlotte Smith and Derek Shupe) as well as Dan Larson (Chair of our club’s Rotaract Advisory Committee) were present for the event.
- From Left: Charlotte Smith, Derek Shupe & Dan Larson
Purple Feet provided the wines as they have for past tastings. Mark Bausch (the principal) and I selected the wines from the Purple Feet “book.” We cannot thank Mark enough for his generosity and help in this fundraiser event.
Some of the wines were three sparklers including Duval “Leroy Nieman Paris Label,” a cremant, and a great New Mexico version. Next we had two NZ Sauvignon Blancs and two NZ Pinot Noirs for an Antipodean experience. Two good Chardonnays, and four Italianesque reds followed. We had cheeses with each of the whites and some meat cuts with the reds. The final phase included Ports, Sauternes and an Icewine (Eiswein) – with chocolates.
The really good news is that we helped the UW Rotaract Group raise $1,838 for the Zimbabwean orphans project, and we made the Rotaract students and Dan Larson very happy. The tasters were also happy with the selections, as everyone purchased some for home use at a later date.
–Submitted by Mike Wilson, Wine Fellowship Group Chair
Rotary Club of Madison, Wisconsin 
