FWWS Wine Gala at Ray’s Boathouse September 20, 2012, SAVE THE DATE AND SAVE YOUR SPOT!

Dear FWWS Members,

August is upon us and it's time to lock in our 2012 FWWS Member winery tasting at Ray's Boathouse. This promises to be a fantastic event and a great opportunity to showcase your wines in a beautiful venue overlooking Shilshole Bay and the Olympic mountains, and paired with delicious food. Those of you who attended in 2010 probably remember a great event. This year we are moving the date to September due to feedback that many potential attendees were on summer holidays in late July. We estimate that we can accommodate no more than 20 member wineries, first come first served so commit to your spot now by emailing us at board@familywineriesofwashington.org .

Event details are as follows:

Location: Ray’s Boathouse 6049 Seaview Ave NW, Seattle

Date/Time: 6:00-9:00 PM Thursday September 20, 2012 (Winery Load in at 5:15)

Table Fee: None.   This event is open to dues paid FWWS members only

Insurance Certificate: None Required. FWWS carries event insurance for member wineries.

Pouring wines: Contrary to our usual practice and based on the expense of the venue and the fact that this is a main fundraiser for FWWS, wineries will be donating pouring wine for this event. A maximum of three wines per winery please.

Food: Selection of heavy appetizers prepared by Ray’s. Sample menu available

Ticket Price: $55 (Includes 9.5% WSST and Gratuity)

Glassware: Printed Riedel “Degustazione” tasting glasses are included in the ticket price

Wine Store: We will stock up to three wines per winery at the Wine Store. FWWS will pay your wholesale cost on wine sold at the end of the event. This year we will be making a special effort to sell more wines through the store by using sales runners etc. We hope to have wineries wine selections far enough ahead of time to offer pre-sales with a 10% discount on wine purchased by attendees before the day of the event. We will also be offering 10% case discounts.

Dump Buckets and Ice (not ice buckets) will be provided

Hero’s of Washington Wine Awards: A brief award ceremony will honor our legislator of the year and a Legend of Washington Wines recipient.

The next and most important task is to sell tickets to the event. We believe this event is very attractively priced at $55/person, which includes WSST, tasting of our fine wines, tapas, gratuity, and a Riedel tasting glass. A sample menu and event flyer will be forwarded to attending wineries for you to print and share with your customers. Tickets can be purchased by check made out to FWWS (with "Ray's Tasting" in the Memo line) sent to FWWS 4251 NE 88^th St. , Seattle , WA 98115. We hope to have a link via pay pal available for sales in the near future. Please include the customer’s name and number in their party (for the will call entry list) as well as an email contact for offering pre-sales of wines and event updates.

 This event benefits not only individual Member wineries by showcasing their wines, but is an important fundraiser for the organization as a whole. We need to sell this event out (150 tickets). We therefore appreciate all members, even those unable to attend, including event and ticket information in their marketing media. Other event details will be available at: http://www.familywineriesofwashington.com/events.html

 Future emails on this subject will be sent to participating wineries only. Please contact the Board with any questions about the event. looking forward to a great evening!

Sincerely,

 The FWWS Board