Location:Four Seasons Hotel , Avenue Road, Toronto
Date: Thursday, October 07, 2010 , 6:30 pm Champagne Reception – Dinner 7:30 pm
Tickets:$250 (with proportional tax receipt)
Auctioneer:Todd Halpern
Reservations:Annette Quitevis 416-445-9920

Proceeds to BRAC, an NGO working on the ground in Haiti to provide prostheses for the victims of the January 12th earthquake.

If you cannot attend please consider making a donation to Grapes for Humanity, call Tony Aspler at 416-488-8597.

This exclusive event is limited to 50 people.

Date: Round trip departs Union Station at 9am Saturday Sept 26th – return trip late afternoon
Tickets: (Tax receipts provided*)
Donate $750 per person and get the Full Monty! (Includes train travel, winemaking, lunch, wine and more!)
Donate $1000 and be Alex Lifeson’s BFF for the day (Include BFF t-shirt, photo-op and sit at his table for lunch!)
Donate $1500 or more and be invited to an additional private tasting with Alex and Geddy

Here is Tony Aspler’s blog report on Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson’s Grapes Under Pressure Harvest Picnic at Tawse Winery:

The Grapes Under Pressure Team

Saturday, September 26: Up at 6:45 am to walk Pinot the Wonder Dog and grab a quick breakfast before taking the subway down to Union Station. Have to be there by 8:30 am for Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson’s Grapes Under Pressure Tour for Grapes for Humanity.

A series of volunteers, each wearing a wine-stained T-shirt, guide us to the VIA Rail lounge. Fifty of us are given “backstage passes” in order to board a train that will take us to Grimsby, where we are picked up by buses to drive to Tawse winery in Vineland for a harvest picnic.

The train to Grimsby

When we arrive at the winery (the driver got lost) we are handed a glass of Gaston Chiquet Champagne 1999 and are given T-shirts and ballcaps with the Grapes Under Pressure logo. Moray Tawse welcomes us and introduces the group to winemaker Paul Pender and consultant Pascal Marchand. We are divided into two groups for a tour of the vineyard, where we harvested Chardonnay for Tawse’s sparkling wine. The Mexican pickers who come up every year can harvest 7 to 8 11-kilo boxes of grapes an hour. When we get ours to the sorting table Morey says, “Is that all you got? 12 boxes?” We then take a turn at the sorting table to weed out leaves and unripe grapes.

A decision is taken to lunch outdoors although rain had been threatened in the forecast. A silent auction has been set up on the patio, including such items as a bass guitar autographed by Geddy, “2 hour doubles game with world No. 1 ranked doubles players Daniel Nestor and Geddy Lee,” as well as a week stay for four couples at Villa Via Monte in Argentina (donated by Anne Sperling and Peter Gamble).

Amateur Sorters

Over lunch, Alex Lifeson takes the mic to encourage auction bids with an impromptu and hysterically funny rap performance. Chef David Lee of Nota Bene prepared a terrific lunch: slow whole roasted vine fed Tawse spring lamb with chilled ratatouille, served with Tawse Robyn’s Block Chardonnay 2004, followed by Cumbrae Farms rib eye steak with pommes purée, with Tawse 17th Street Pinot Noir 2007 and Tawse Cabernet Franc Wismer Vineyard 2007 (which had just won the gold medal at the Canadian Wine Awards). Dessert: strawberry sorbet with chilled Icewine, served with Tawse Late Harvest Barrel Fermented Chardonnay 2008. Just as we are about to board the buses to take us back to Grimsby station the rain starts. The god of wine smiled on us. More 1999 champagne on the bus before boarding the train back to Toronto. A highly successful and very entertaining day.

Chef David Lee and Geddy Lee

Ana and Donald Ziraldo and Melissa Prusky

Moray Tawse scores an auctioned bass guitar

Alex Lifeson rapping

Included in this auction will be:

• A Geddy Lee Fender Jazz bass AND a rare Garrison G-50E Custom Acoustic guitar used by Alex on the Snakes & Arrows tour. They have both been signed by Geddy and Alex as well as by members of Depeche Mode, TOOL, The Fray, Pearl Jam, Judas Priest and many more in Support of Grapes for Humanity.
• A Gibson Les Paul Axcess “Custom Shop” guitar which was used by Alex Lifeson in a recent secret session. The guitar will be autographed and will be accompanied by a signed photo of Alex with the Guitar.
• A Sabian Paragon Diamondback Chinese 20″ Cymbal, from Neil Peart’s personal kit, with Neil’s signature.
• A rare limited edition Airstream Epiphone Trailer Park Boys “The Movie” guitar signed by Ricky, Julian, Bubbles, Geddy and Alex.
• A Jane’s Addiction prize pack which includes a signed cymbal and poster from their most recent tour with NIN.

To check out these items online, please follow this link and BID.

ALL proceeds will be directed to Grapes for Humanity www.grapesforhumanity.com

The focus of Grapes for Humanity is to providea better quality of life for victims and survivors of disasters. We help these individuals become self-sufficient citizens to go on to lead fulfilling and productive lives. Funds are raised through various international wine events, wine auctions, corporate and private home wine tastings. Through our partners we direct the proceeds of these events to those in immediate need. Grapes for Humanity is an organization that is run on the strength of its volunteers. We pride ourselves on the fact that all monies raised go directly to our chosen partner.

The proceeds from this auctiont will be donated to HALO for their on-going work with victims of landmines in Angola.

The money we raise through the on-line auction will be matched by the Julia Burke Foundation in California.

Wines to be served:  DeLoach OFS Chardonnay 2007 ~ Clos Jordanne Le Grand Clos Blanc 2006 ~ Domaine de la Vougeraie Clos Blanc de Vougeot 2006 ~ DeLoach Pinot Noir Vineyard Designate 2006 ~ Jean Claude Boisset Gevrey-Chambertin 2006 ~ Domaine de la Vougeraie Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru 2006 ~ DeLoach Forgotten Vine Zinfandel 2007 ~ La Face Cachée Neige Premiére.

Tickets – $500 – Corporate tables of 8 – $4,000
Date: October 8, 2009
Location: Four Seasons Hotel, Toronto
Reception: 6:30 p.m. Champagne + Chocolate Martini Reception
Dinner: 7:30 p.m.

Here is Tony Aspler’s blog report on the Chocolate & Wine Fantasy dinner.

Thursday, October 8: The Grapes for Humanity chocolate dinner has finally arrived but I have a Vintages tasting this morning. Deborah and her volunteer committee are already at the hotel when I get there in mid afternoon. The silent auction has been set up around the room and we have 113 guests in total. Here’s the menu that we had signed by both executive chefs and Jean-Charles Boisset:

The event went extremely well. Ken Shaw was a terrific MC and we raised $55,000 from the silent and live auctions. This figure (plus ticket sales once expenses are deducted) will be donated to HALO for their work with landmine victims in Angola and matched by the Julia Burke Foundation in California. A great evening. The Chocolate Lindtini was a big hit.

The Children’s Advocacy Foundation will use the funds for the following immediate objectives:

1. By 2009, six new pre-schools will be established in the project target areas.
2. During the implementation period, services of nutrition and healthcare programs for students will be delivered.
3. During 2009 and 2010, awareness of Children’s Rights and educational program will be implemented through media programs and community meetings.
4. By 2010, ten deep wells will be dug for communities.
5. By 2010, eye examination and treatment will be conducted for elderly in target area.

In October 2008, Grapes for Humanity held a fund-raiser dinner at The Four Seasons Hotel in Toronto. The proceeds were donated to HALO’s Mine Risk Education team in Nagorno Karabakh to purchase two ambulances to carry landmine victims in hospital.

Over the last decade, Nagorno Karabakh has suffered one of the world’s highest per capita casualty rates from landmines, cluster bombs and other unexploded ordnance UXO), with more than two casualties per thousand of population. Fortunately, great progress has been made in recent years to remove the threat. After working steadily in the region since 2000, The HALO Trust and its sister organization The HALO Trust (USA), Inc. (collectively, “HALO”) have cleared almost 25 million square metres of minefield and 112 million square metres of battlefield, and destroyed 51,150 landmines and other explosive items. Concurrent with this work, HALO teams have provided mine risk education to affected communities to help them develop coping mechanisms for living among landmines, as well as a backup ambulance service available to supplement the resources of local authorities in remote areas. Nagorno Karabakh is turning a corner: statistics show just six casualties in 2007 and three in the first few months of 2008, markedly down from the 2004 peak of 43.

Location: The Park Hyatt Hotel
Date: Wednesday, November 03, 2004 , 6:30 p.m. Reception – Dinner 7:30 p.m.