11/6/2009 12:30:29 PM

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By Marissa Block

Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN 

In the spirit of combining a passion for wine with the quest to help kids with special needs, winemaker and Rochester native Anthony Katselis, now of Oakland, Calif., and his wife, Karin, are teaming up with Apollo Liquor to host a wine-tasting and food-pairing benefit event this weekend.

	If you go What: Wine-tasting and food-pairing benefit When: 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday Where: Apollo Wine and Spirits, Maplewood Plaza, 4040 Hwy. 52 N. Cost: Free. The wines will be available for purchase at the event and at Apollo thereafter.

In addition, the couple has bottled two new wines by the label of Asteri Mou -- an '06 Napa Valley Merlot and an '06 Sonoma County Zinfandel -- named after their two sons. The wines will be launched at the event.

"'Asteri Mou' is a phonetic translation of 'my star' in Greek," Karin says. "That's what we call our kids, 'my star.'"

In honor of their 17-month-old son, Mihail, who was born with Down Syndrome, a percentage of all proceeds will be given back to organizations helping kids with disabilities, both in Rochester and in Oakdale. A portion of the proceeds will also go to the Down Syndrome Support Network and ARC Southeastern Minnesota.

Another batch of artistic martinis

Beginning Monday, take a time-out to sample the second batch of artistic martinis created special for ARTINI, an upcoming benefit for the Rochester Art Center. I gave you the first three happy hours last week, promising to give you the other five this week. So, here 'tis:

• Monday -- Pescara, 150 S. Broadway

• Tuesday -- City Cafe, 216 First Ave. S.W.

• Wednesday -- Victoria's, 7 First Ave. S.W.

• Thursday -- Martini's, 20 Second Ave. S.W.

• Monday, Nov. 16 -- Catering by Design (held at the Rochester Art Center, 40 Civic Center Drive S.E.)

Remember, each happy hour is from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on the listed day. Tickets for the Nov. 21 ARTINI event ($50 for art center members, $60 for non-members), as well as raffle tickets ($10 each), will be available at each happy hour.

Each of the eight artistically themed martinis featured at these happy hours will be judged by ARTINI attendees the night of the event. The winner will be named ARTINI 2009 Champion.

For more information, go to www.rochesterartcenter.org.

Marissa Block is the Life section editor. Send event news and comments to her at the Post-Bulletin. Next week: Details about the upcoming Cheese and Chocolate weekend.

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