On March 12, wine aficionados and friends of the Shepherdstown Day Care will gather at the Bavarian Inn for the 4th Annual Wine Auction to Benefit the center.

The event will begin at 6:30 p.m. with wine and Scotch tastings, music and light hors d’oeuvres donated by the Bavarian Inn, Cress Creek, Ellsworth Catering, the Press Room, the Tuscany Grill and The Yellow Brick Bank.

At 8 p.m., the live auction begins.

Highlights of the auction lots is a magnum of 2008 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon, which received 95 points from The Wine Spectator; a bottle of 95-point 2006 Isole e Olena, Rosso Ceparello, an Italian red; and a group of six wines that made Wine Spectator’s Top 100 list, including a 97-point 2007 Peter Michael Ma Belle-Fille chardonnay.

The auction features wines for both New and Old World aficionados, with lots featuring California cabernets, fantastic Bordeaux, as well as exciting Italian, German, Australian, Chilean and Spanish wine lots.

Participants will also be able to bid on tickets to the “Route 9 Barrel Tasting Tour,” courtesy of Doukenie Winery, a gourmet four-course dinner for four at the Bavarian Inn and an overnight stay at the Mimslyn Inn in Luray, Va.

The auction will end on the final auction lot: Bubbles on the Beach a bottle of champagne and a week in an eight-person villa on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia.

Proceeds will benefit the Shepherdstown Day Care, one of a handful of non-profit day cares serving the families of Jefferson and Berkeley Counties, and the region’s only day care which charges tuition according to a sliding scale tied to family income level, enabling families that want to work or further their education.

The wine auction will help raise the funds needed to maintain the sliding scale, as well as enable the day care to pursue renovation projects and enhance its educational program in order to provide the best possible environment for children to grow and learn.

Tickets for the auction are available at 304-876-2551 or at the door.

For more information, visit www.sdcwineauction.org, or contact David Asam at david@BavarianInnWV. com.

– From staff reports