St. Augustine celebrating wine for good cause

St. Augustine Wine Festival to benefit charities

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – If you enjoy good wine and helping build the community, next week you can get the chance to do both at the St. Augustine Spanish Wine Festival. All proceeds from the event go to local charities and organizations.

Charlie Seraphin, the president of the St. Augustine Spanish Wine Festival says people can expect to have an awesome time with incredible wines.

"There is a lot of variety in terms of the kinds of activities that are being offered," Seraphin says. "We have what you would call a traditional wine tasting, we have a very elegant Cava reception and dinner, but we also have a Batalla, which is a Spanish wine fight."

Participants are asked to dress in white and will have squirters filled with wine to spray one another.

Organizers say The Second Annual St. Augustine Spanish Wine Festival is an exciting way to acknowledge and honor our community. All Proceeds go to benefit three local causes that need continued support.

• The Children's Museum of St. Johns
• Alzheimer's Project of St. Johns County, Council on Aging
• Fresh Starts in Culinary Arts
• Educating Homeless Students in the Culinary Arts
• Fresh Starts Celebrates Graduation of First Class

Kim Macewan, Executive Director of the Children's Museum says their mission is to create interactive educational experiences for children and families. Established in 2007, Macewan says they have been working to build a museum in St. John and funds from the Spanish Wine and Food festival will bring them closer to their goal of opening by the end of 2014 early 2015.

"It's a tremendous help. Not only does it bring awareness to the community but we also enjoy partnering with the other two non profits to help make this a successful event and really show people what St. Augustine can do and what we're bringing in the future.

This festival features the very best in Spanish foods and wines presented at variety of special events and restaurants. Oct. 21: VIP kickoff luncheon at First Coast Technical College; Oct. 22: Blessing of the Wine at the Cathedral Basilica's West Courtyard; Oct. 23 & 24: Private wine tastings at outstanding St. Augustine restaurants; Oct. 25: Cava Reception and Wine Dinner at the beautiful River House; and Oct. 26: Grand Tasting at the Visitor Information Center.

Tickets for the Grand tasting are $35 and you can buy them at spanishwinefestival.com