It’s Christmas time, and one of the great joys of the Holiday season is in giving to those less fortunate. But even if you are a scrooge and don’t think much of charitable giving, there are quite a few good (and selfish) reasons to participate in Menu For Hope III.

1) If you bid on red wine, like my Pinot Noir 3 pack below, you’ll be helping yourself live longer according to all sorts of reports on wine and aging.
2) Recent data suggests that charitable giving actually makes you a happier person.
3) Wine has alcohol in it. Alcohol gives you a buzz, and that will certainly make you a happier person (at least temporarily).
4) I’ll also add the winning bidder for my lot to the free samples list. You’ll receive a complimentary bottle of Capozzi Pinot noir upon release.

So, without further ado, here is our contribution to the Third Annual Menu for Hope.

Three (3) bottles of Russian River Pinot Noir to be chosen by me along with short tasting notes and reasons for inclusion. Each bottle will come from an artisanal producer in the Valley that you won’t be able to find at Safeway or BevMo. The average cost per bottle is approx $35, but it may be higher depending on what I end up getting. The total value will be at least $110, and for a $10 dollar raffle ticket, that’s pretty hard to beat.

To bid on the Pinot 3 Pack (plus a bottle of Capozzi Pinot upon release), head on over to http://www.firstgiving.com/menuforhopeIII and enter in the code WB04. You’ll also want to check out the other great wine lots over at Vinography. Alder has done quite a job organizing wine bloggers for this worthy event and there are over 20 other lots to chose from.

Here are the generic instructions to bid. Last year Menu for Hope raised 18,000 for charity and this year we hope to double that. All proceeds go to the UN World Food Programme.

1. Go to the donation page at (http://www.firstgiving.com/menuforhopeIII)

2. Make a donation, each $10 will give you one raffle ticket toward a prize of your choice. Please specify which prize or prizes you’d like in the ‘Personal Message’ section in the donation form when confirming your donation. This is very important. Do tell us how many tickets you want to allocate per prize, and please use the prize code -for example, a donation of $50 can be 2 tickets for UW01 and 3 for UW02.

3. If your company matches your charity donation, please remember to check the box and fill in the information so we can claim the corporate match.

4. Please also check the box to allow us to see your email address so that we could contact you in case you win. Your email address will not be shared with anyone.

5. Check back on Chez Pim on January 15 when we announce the result of the raffle. (The drawing will be done electronically. Our friend the code wizard Derrick at Obsession with Food is responsible for the wicked application that will do the job.)

Merry Christmas!

“One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.” – Proverbs