And now a toast to the Rotary Club of Fort Myers
jimMcCRACKEN vino@florida-weekly.com

So I had to ask the obvious question, "How do you compete with the Naples Winter Wine Fest?"

Carolyn Rogers, public relations guru for the Southwest Florida Wine Fest, was kind enough to call me back while on her way to pick up an auction item for this weekend's event.

She laughed, then said, "My goodness. We don't compete with Naples. Napa doesn't even compete with Naples. But we've set ourselves apart from Naples by focusing on local culinary arts and talents. This is the signature event for the Rotary Club of Fort Myers, and so far we've raised nearly a half million dollars for our charities."

There's good reason to offer something completely different from the annual Naples event, which costs more than $5,000 per couple - if you can even get an invitation. On the other hand, the fourth annual Southwest Florida Wine Fest, which takes place this Friday and Saturday, is open to everyone, with tickets running about $300 apiece.

"We see people who can't get into the Naples events attending the Southwest Florida version," Rogers said. And with nearly a dozen chef vintner dinners at private homes to choose from, hundreds of locals will be able to get in, see and taste some of the good life. They can follow that up with the Saturday night auction and wine tasting.

COURTESY PHOTO Swanson Estate Wines

Tickets are still available for some of the dinners. All of the information is available on the fest's Web site, www. southwestfloridawinefest.org.

This year's goal is to raise $250,000 for The Children's Hospital of Southwest Florida and Hope Hospice

Who is doing the cooking, and what will it take to get in? Each dinner features a local chef talent. There's seating for at least 20 per dinner. Dinners run $300 to $500 per person with wellknown chefs such as Harold Balink of Harold's on Bay, Shannon Yates of Cru, and Todd Johnson from Rumrunners preparing dinner for 20 to 100 people.

The most expensive dinner is $500 per person. Aziz Bouras, chef at Dolce Vita on Sanibel Island, is sharing top billing with Clarke Swanson, a former Naples resident and founder of Swanson Vineyards and Winery.

For the Saturday event, guests will be able to bid on more than 70 auction lots. Travel packages, autographed memorabilia and merchandise are well represented. So, too, are food and wine with gift certificates from Bonefish Grill, Café Cibo, Toro and Ellington's.

Seize the moment to secure a mega party bottle, a six-liter 1998 Domaine Louis Bernard Chateauneuf du Pape., or the five-liter Mezzacorona Merlot 2005. There's also a bottle of Harlan Estate 2003, and a wine barrel with wine.

There will be food prepared by many of the same chefs who prepare Friday's dinners. They will be joined by still more chefs to create dishes that will pair well with the many wines that will be available for sampling. And for dessert: Norman Love and his chocolates, along with some top-flight dessert wines.

Oh - and the donation Rogers was heading to pick up?

"I have to get off the phone now," she told me. "I'm driving towards Immokalee to meet (Ave Maria University founder) Tom Monaghan to pick up his donation of two bottles of wine, and I need to figure out where we are meeting."