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2008 Virgin Islands Winemakers Dinners
Seven Great Winemakers & Twelve World Class Chefs at Eight Virgin Islands Hideaways Cook up a Unique Wine and Culinary Experience
The British Virgin Islands Tourist Board becomes the Presenting Sponsor of the 2009 and 2010 Virgin Islands Winemakers Dinners Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands, Friday January 30th 2009, The British Virgin Islands Tourist Board has accepted an invitation from the BVI Charitable Fund to become the Presenting Sponsor of the 2009 and 2010 Virgin Islands Winemakers Dinners. This new partnership between the BVI Tourist Board and the BVI Charitable Fund plans to entice food and wine lovers from around the world to come and visit the BVI before, during and after these dinners. The 2009 Winemakers Dinners will be held from July 16 to 19 and December 3 to 6 at exclusive locations throughout the Virgin Islands(UK). By holding the dinners at two different times of the year, the BVI Tourist Board and the BVI Charitable Fund hope to attract a diverse group of guests, winemakers and chefs to come to the BVI to experience Nature’s Little Secrets. “It is no secret that people who enjoy fine food and gourmet meals love to travel to world class locations even in difficult economic conditions,” said Ms. Hadassah Ward, Acting Director of the BVI Tourist Board. She added that the BVI Tourist Board is leveraging its existing and new relationships with various travel, food and wine magazines to promote the BVI as a place to visit by showcasing the 2009 Winemakers Dinners which will consist of eight private dinners featuring seven course gourmet meals prepared by master chefs from throughout the world. The cuisine will be matched with fine wines selected by some of the best winemakers in the world. In addition, the BVI Tourist Board and Nail Bay Resort will co-host a VIP Welcome Reception in honor of all the visiting and local chefs, winemakers and sponsors at the historic Sugar Mill Ruins at Nail Bay, Virgin Gorda on Wednesday, July 15th and Wednesday, December 2nd, the days immediately preceding the start of each dinner series. Ajit Mathew George, Co-Chair of the BVI Charitable Fund and Managing Director of Nail Bay Resort said he was delighted with the opportunity to work closely with the BVI Tourist Board. He said, “the location of each of the 2009 Winemakers Dinners will be carefully selected to highlight the unique and high-end tourism product that is available throughout the BVI.” Mr. George also announced that Mr. Vikram Garg, Executive Chef of Halekulani on the Beach at Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii has volunteered his time and talent to serve as Executive Chef of the 2009 Winemakers Dinners. The Halekulani features La Mer, which is Hawaii’s only AAA Five Diamond Restaurant. Mr. Garg served in a similar capacity for the highly successful 2008 Winemakers Dinners and according to Mr. George was responsible for coordinating the menu and the food orders for all twelve visiting chefs and deserves the credit for producing a series of world-class dinners in the BVI last year. “We are most grateful to Halekulani for allowing Mr. Garg to participate in this year’s dinners.” The BVI Charitable Fund is currently extending invitations to other chefs and various winemakers to participate in this year’s dinners. Sponsorship opportunities for the 2009 Winemakers Dinners will be first extended to all 2008 sponsors in March and April 2009 before being made available to new sponsors. The BVI Charitable Fund organized the 2008 Winemakers Dinners plus a VIP Reception, which was held over nine consecutive days last summer at very special locations throughout the BVI and attended by 608 people who came from such diverse locations as France, Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, Slovakia, United Kingdom, and United States in addition to the BVI. During the course of the 2008 Winemakers Dinners, the twelve visiting chefs from around the world with the assistance of four local chefs prepared 2,420 dishes serving 55 unique courses of gourmet meals that were paired with 888 bottles of fine wines poured by seven visiting winemakers from Germany and Italy. All the dinners in 2008 were sold out and there was a waiting list for each dinner. The BVI Charitable Fund was established in 2008 to create new and innovative fund-raising events to benefit various charities in the Virgin Islands (UK) by attracting support from both outside and within the BVI. The BVI Charitable Fund was started with a $25,000 challenge grant from Nail Bay on Easter Monday, 2008. In addition to Nail Bay, the Founding Sponsors of the Winemakers Dinners include OHMS a European based firm specializing in Champagne, Fine Rieslings and Super Tuscans together with Allivictus, a Czech company marketing garlic tincture. The net proceeds of the 2008 Winemakers Dinners will be distributed to the BVI Red Cross, St. George’s School, Tortola and St. Mary’s School, Virgin Gorda at upcoming breakfast meetings of the new Rotary Club of the BVI Sunrise in March and April of this year. The net proceeds of the 2009 Winemakers Dinners will also benefit the BVI Red Cross, St. George’s School, Tortola and St. Mary’s School, Virgin Gorda. The co-chairs of the BVI Charitable Fund are the Hon. Ralph T. O’Neal, OBE, Premier of the Virgin Islands (UK) and Ajit Mathew George, Managing Director, Nail Bay Resort. In addition to the Winemakers Dinners, the BVI Charitable Fund is also working in partnership with the BVI Tourist Board to establish “The BVI Dream Vacations Collection”, a collection of accommodations to be marketed year- round featuring a variety of homes and luxury hotel rooms in the BVI. The BVI Charitable Fund has identified a number of charities in the USA and UK which feature silent and live auctions that raise significant amounts of money by auctioning trips to places such as Virgin Gorda. The BVI Charitable Fund plans to offer a package from “The BVI Dream Vacations Collection” to these charities in return for them agreeing to share 50% of the proceeds from their auctions with The BVI Charitable Fund. The Premier and Minister for Tourism, Hon. Ralph T. O’Neal, OBE in his capacity as co-chair of the BVI Charitable Fund invited those who owned vacation homes and resorts in the BVI to make generous donations of accommodations to “The BVI Dream Vacations Collection”. Anyone interested in donating a vacation package to “The BVI Dream Vacations Collection” is encouraged to contact Ajit George by e-mail at cochair@bvicharitablefund.com For additional information on both 2008 and 2009 Winemakers Dinners, visit www.winemakersdinners.com which will updated regularly.
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