From the spectacle of Moulin Rouge to the ostentatiousness of Opera Garnier there is no city on earth as decadent as Paris. In roughly 24 hours a taste of Paris will come to the Rocket City, courtesy of the Women’s Guild.
Now in its 42nd year, this Thursday Jan. 26, the Wine Tasting and Silent Auction returns to the Huntsville Museum of Art. The theme is ‘Grape Expectations: A French Connection’ and will showcase about 50 French wines. The museum will transport guests to the City of Light through creative facade, including a commissioned mural of a Paris street scene.
Attendees will not only support the art museum but also a piece of Huntsville history. The Women’s Guild, a proud supporter of the Huntsville Museum of Art, brought the first-ever wine tasting event to the Tennessee Valley in 1971 to raise money for the arts.
Seventy-nine-year-old Huntsville resident, Beverly Humphrey, was president of the Women’s Guild more than 40 years ago when the first wine tasting committee was established. She recalls recruiting another Women’s Guild volunteer, named Betty, to chair the first event because her husband managed the hotel at the airport. Humphrey said, “The new airport had just been built and it was a big deal. Betty had connections with wine distributors, and she had been to wine tastings in Europe.”
The inaugural Wine Tasting was held in the Russel Erskine hotel in downtown Huntsville. Humphrey said about the space, “I guess it was the biggest place in town there was to hold it. We were in the lobby.”
“After that, some of the later ones were held at Parkway City Mall. Over the years bigger spaces had to be found as the popularity of the event grew. To begin with we were bounced from pillar to post, but people liked it, and it just grew in size every year.”
This year the Wine Tasting will be held at the Huntsville Museum of Art’s permanent facility downtown. In 2010, the museum’s $6.8 million expansion — a feather in the cap of local fine arts supporters — opened to the general public. Known as the Davidson Center for the Arts, it is a 21,000-square-foot addition that includes eight new galleries for the arts and walls of windows overlooking Big Spring International Park.
Tickets for the tasting are $60 per person and may be purchased by calling Holly McCarty at 256-512-5857.
About The Event: Wine Tasting and Silent Auction
Featuring French wines, the tasting will offer a unique experience for all. To complement the wines, Scott Curry of Decatur will furnish a tempting variety of hors d’oeuvres. Desserts will be provided by Mary Wingo of Riverstone Cakes & Confections.
Grape Expectations: A French Connection
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Huntsville Museum of Art
Wine Tasting: 6:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m.
Silent Auction: 6:45 p.m. until 8:30 p.m.
Business Attire
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