East Bay Business Times

Robert Parker, the hugely influential wine writer and critic, will host an Oct. 23 Napa Valley seminar and wine tasting featuring the chance to sip premier 2005 vintage Bordeaux wines, which Parker has hailed as "the greatest vintage produced during my 30-year career."

The event, certain to draw a rapt audience, will take place at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone, a culinary college in St. Helena, officials said Friday.

The fifth annual event, which costs a hefty $2,000 per person (including a $1,000 charitable contribution) will provide scholarships for the Culinary Institute's Rudd Center for Professional Wine Studies. "We're about half full," spokeswoman Cate Conniff told the San Francisco Business Times, confirming that the tasting is open to anyone who plunks down $2,000.

Officials say this year's event will bring the total funds raised to $1 million, which provides $50,000 annually in scholarships for students pursuing wine education and certification at the Rudd Center.

Founded in 1946, The Culinary Institute of America is an independent, not-for-profit college that offers bachelor's and associate degrees, as well as certificate programs, in either culinary arts or baking and pastry arts, according to the institution, which boasts a network of more than 37,000 alumni. Along with St. Helena, its has campuses in Hyde Park, N.Y., New York City and San Antonio.

A sparkling wine reception will follow the tasting, which takes place Thursday, October 23 at 1:30 p.m. in the college's Ecolab Theatre in St. Helena.

Cases of the 2005 Bordeaux vintage sell for more than $75,000 and "are likely to become primarily museum pieces given their astonishing price climbs," according to Parker's well-known bi-monthly newsletter, The Wine Advocate.