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PFV held U.S. events and raised 146.500 $,

For its latest fundraiser, Grapes for Humanity presented two tastings/dinners in May featuring the wines and the members of Primum Familiae Vini and raised 146.500 $.
"It's a rare opportunity to taste any one of their greatest wines produced in recent times," said Willis. "It is rarer still to taste all of them at a single sitting, in the presence of their producers."

Primum Familiae Vini members attending and wines that were savoured:

  • Hubert de Billy - Pol Roger Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill 1995
  • Marcia & Rob Mondavi - Robert Mondavi To Kalon I-Block Fume Blanc 2001
  • Laurent J. Drouhin - Montrachet Marquis de Laguiche 1999
  • Etienne Hugel - Riesling Jubilee 1998
  • Marimar Torres - Mas La Plana 2001
  • Alessia Antinori - Tignanello 2000
  • Pablo Alvarez - Vega Sicilia Unico 1989
  • Nicolas Jaboulet - Hermitage La Chapelle 1983
  • Philippine de Rothschild - Château Mouton Rothschild 1989/2
  • Egon Müller - Scharzhofberger Eiswein 1998
  • Rupert Symington - Graham's Malvedos 1996



    • In the course of each dinner a Primum Familiae Vini collection case has been auctioned for charity.

    Grapes for Humanity was established in 2000 by Arlene Willis and Toronto wine writer Tony Aspler to help victims of land mines around the world. Willis, an American who also holds Canadian citizenship, lost a brother in 1967 in Vietnam when he stepped on a land mine just three weeks into his line of duty.

    "I was very good at using wine to raise funds for a variety of charitable organizations," said Willis, a former director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra fund-raising committee, of her desire to start her own nonprofit group. "Unfortunately, I never saw where the money went."

    Funds raised in Canada during the past three years have been used to perform extensive renovations on a dormitory at the Kien Khleang National Rehabilitation Center in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in collaboration with the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation. Grapes for Humanity has also raised money to build prosthetic outreach centers in León, Nicaragua, and Choluteca, Honduras, because land mines still pepper mountainous regions of these countries.

    "With Grapes for Humanity, almost every cent is used to benefit humanitarian causes," said Willis, who runs the charity from her home. "Less than 4 percent goes to administration."

    The events were staged at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Sarasota, Fla., on May 12 and at the Pierre Hotel in New York City on May 14.



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