Eleven years ago I had a wild idea to create an organization dedicated to teaching members about wine in an interesting and unpretencious way, hopefully opening palates to regions and producers that might not have been on their radar, while giving back to charity organizations that are impacting our community. Last week we celebrated out 11th anniversary. Eleven years of dinners and tastings, eleven years of celebrations and donations, eleven years of discovering delicious wines from emerging regions. I couldn’t be more proud.

Thursday evening, over an incredible, perfectly paired dinner at Urbano we celebrated our anniversary with a few of our favorite things, wines that have held a place in Dallas Uncorked’s history and mean something special to us, like a steller Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir from our friends at Siduri, delicious J Hoffstater Pinot Grigio from Alto Adige and a few bottles of JCB N°69 Brut Rose NV Cremant de Bourgogne. The food was incredible, the wines spectacular, but the true joy of night came from the friends, old and new, that were there to celebrate our anniversary with us.  Thank you to all who were there with us.

Thanks to everyone who joined us we are able to donate a portion of the proceeds to two charities doing fantastic work both locally and internationally – Charity:Water, bringing clean water to those in need around the world, and Real School Gardens, creating learning gardens in low-income elementary schools to help students succeed. And, an extra special thanks to Dallas Caramel Company, for the very sweet treats that were the ideal end to a tasty night, and to Ruthie’s Rolling Cafe for the grilled cheese treat for all our guests to get in the future, a wonderful way to remember the night.

I often say I have the best job in the world, I get to throw a party, teach people about wine and give back to charity. I am truly blessed. Thanks to all for supporting us over the past 11 years and let’s raise a glass to the next 11! Cheers.