CLEARFIELD – Take one local award winning winery, add a charity auction, and you get Generations. Created by Dr. & Mrs. Richard Williams and family, this semi-dry, white wine is a German style blend of Riesling, Traminette, and a hint of Niagara grapes and promises to be a crowd pleaser.
The partnership and the process that produced this wine is an interesting one. Annually, the Friends of the Area Agency on Aging Auxiliary hold the Anne S. Thacik Charity Auction to benefit the programs and services of the Clearfield County Area Agency on Aging, Inc. Over the past four years, Starr Hill Winery donated an interesting item to the auction. To the highest bidder would go the opportunity to work with Starr Hill vintners to select, blend, and name a unique wine. After the wine was bottled, Starr Hill would market and sell it and a portion of each sale would be donated back to the auxiliary.
Susan Williams had her eye on this unique auction item since it first became available in 2006 and at last year’s auction she was finally the winning bidder. The Williams family met with winery staff to make plans for their wine selection. They worked closely with winery staff to develop their blend. Then the family chose a name and helped to design a label. Recently the Williams’ family, along with a team of workers at Starr Hill Winery and a couple friends, bottled and labeled 500 bottles of Generations. The name “Generations” stems from the Williams’ children, Emily and Elizabeth. They are the eighth generation of the family to own the family homestead farm located in Lawrence Township.
All past wine creations have sold-out quickly and Generations is on the same path. Generations debuted at Ebensburg’s Wine fest “Wine Time for the Mainline” on April 24, 2010 and Starr Hill quickly sold out the supply they had brought. Kenn Starr commented, “I think it is one of those rare wines that appeals to both dry and sweet wine drinkers. It is one of the most outstanding semi-dry blends we have done to date and it looks like we will sell out before the end of summer.”
Starr added, “We look forward to presenting the CCAAA with another check at this year’s auction. Since 2006, we have partnered with CCAAA and have brought in over $5000 for the great causes they provide.”
If you would like to blend and name next year’s unique wine, be sure to come to the Anne S. Thacik Charity auction Oct. 7 at the Knights of Columbus in Clearfield. Be the highest bidder, and the experience is yours!
