Celebrity wine tasting fundraiser for Millstone Twp. public schools

Millstone Township Foundation for Educational Excellence (MTFEE) will be hosting a casual Celebrity Wine Tasting fundraiser featuring the World Wine Guys.

Mike DeSimone and Jeff Jensen will take part in the event at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 24 at Windows on the Water at 7 Yellow Meeting House Road in Millstone. The cost of the event is $75 per person, and sponsorship packages are available, according to a press release from the MTFEE.

“MTFEE wanted to offer something new and different,” Nicole Pyhel, president and information officer of the MTFEE said in a press release. “Whether you are a wine enthusiast or just want to have a fun night out with your spouse and friends, this event will be a great opportunity to socialize and learn about wine from celebrity wine writers, all while staying local and benefiting the district’s students.”

MTFEE is a nonprofit organization devoted to funding educational experiences for Millstone’s public school students. The event will help MTFEE provide grant funding to the Millstone Township School District for new and innovative programs to enrich and enhance education for the district’s students.

The Celebrity Wine Tasting event will include international cheeses, vegetable crudités and much more. Local restaurants will cater food and desserts. The event will also feature wines from around the world, specifically the southern hemisphere. Each guest will have an opportunity to taste and learn about 10 wines from the World Wine Guys, as well as purchase the wines of their choosing. The event will also feature a “Build Your Own Bordeaux” contest, silent auction and calendar board fundraiser.

The World Wine Guys are wine, spirits, food and travel writers. Their articles and photographs have appeared in Wine Enthusiast, Wine Spectator, Saveur.com, Sherman’s Travel, International Living and The European. DeSimone and Jensen have hosted numerous wine-tasting events, including those at the Spanish ambassador’s residence in Washington, D.C., and have spoken at Kevin Zraly’s Windows on the WorldWine Course. The duo has judged the Concours des Vins in Chablis, France, and cooking competitions at the French Culinary Institute in New York City. They were inducted into the Confrérie des Piliers Chablisiens in 2010 and wrote the “Port Wine” chapter in “The Ultimate Wine Companion: The Complete Guide to Understanding Wine by the World’s Foremost Wine Authorities.” Their upcoming book, “The Fire Island Cookbook,” has been acquired by Atria Books, a subsidiary of Simon and Schuster, and will be available in April.

TheWorldWine Guys have just finished “The Complete Guide to the Wines of the Southern Hemisphere” for Sterling Publishing, the publishing arm of Barnes & Noble, which will be available in October 2012. They were recently promoted to serve as entertaining and lifestyle contributing editors forWine Enthusiast magazine and regularly advise readers about wines to pair with food. They were the first guests to pair wine with food on Martha Stewart’s Hallmark Channel show and were featured guests on Martha Stewart Living Radio. For more information about The World Wine Guys, visit www.worldwineguys.com or www.winemag.com.

“The organization thanks Linda Griggs, trustee, Millstone Township resident and Celebrity Wine Tasting event chairperson, and her committee for their hard work in planning this exciting event,” Pyhel said.

To date, the foundation has awarded more than $410,000 in grants for classroom programs, educational opportunities, staff development and state-of-the-art teaching materials that are beyond the scope of the general school budget. Grants have been awarded at every grade level and in every discipline.

To purchase tickets or find out more about advertising and sponsorship packages, email [email protected] or visit www.mtfee.org.