"The Wine Event" Raises Funds for PVP Schools

The Peninsula Education Foundation (PEF) is proud to announce that Frank Altamura from Altamura Winery in Napa Valley will be the featured winemaker at this year’s third annual wine auction fundraiser, “The Wine Event”. The intimate evening limited to 125 guests will take place January 24, 2015 at a private home in Palos Verdes Estates, and will feature a five course dinner with Altamura wine pairings prepared by well-known chef David LeFevre from MB Post and Fishing with Dynamite in Manhattan Beach. The event will also feature silent and live auctions highlighting rare wines and wine experiences.

Altamura Vineyards and Winery, established in 1985 by Frank and Karen Altamura, is the only winery in Wooden Valley, located within the Napa Valley appellation, where estate grown Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese are meticulously produced. Napa natives Frank and Karen have a decidedly hands-on approach to every step of the growing and winemaking process. Frank’s formal viticultural training began at Sterling Vineyards in the 1970s and was further developed from the winemaker’s perspective at Caymus with mentor Charlie Wagner, prior to establishing Altamura Winery.

Chef David LeFevre is currently the chef/owner of MB Post and Fishing with Dynamite in Manhattan Beach. At MB Post, he has earned both chef and restaurant a spot in the James Beard Foundation Awards in 2012 and 2013. He started his career with Charlie Trotter, and was executive chef of The Water Grill in downtown LA, which he ran for six years, earning a Michelin star and a StarChefs.com Rising Stars Award along the way. You may have seen him in Gordon Ramsey’s Hell’s Kitchen or on The Talk.

“We are lucky to have such good friends of PEF who love great wines support this event, and want to share their passion to help raise funds for our schools and our children,” said PEF’s Executive Director Andrea Sala.
State funding for public schools in California is not sufficient to provide the quality of education that is needed for college bound students, hence the need for private funding to ensure an excellent education for our children. The PEF will donate $3.4 million this school year to the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District for critical programs like STEM (science, technology, engineering, math); PE and music; as well as key school staff, including teaching positions, instructional aides, academic and safe school counselors, and College & Career Center staff in the Palos Verdes Peninsula public schools.

Prior Wine Events have provided unique experiences with California’s premier winemaker Bo Barrett of Chateau Montelena Winery and dinner by Chez Melange Restaurant; and international winemaker Gaia Gaja from Gaja Winery in Piedmont, Italy with dinner by Celestino Drago of Los Angeles’ Drago restaurant group.
For more information call 310.378.2278 or email andrea@pvpef.org .