Wednesday’s Wine for Water event supports watersheds

For one night only, keeping the Columbia area’s waterways healthy is as easy as tasting a few wines.

Sustainable Midlands is hosting Wine for Water: An Earth Day Celebration from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at The Hall at Senate’s End, 320 Senate St.

The event benefits watershed associations for Gills Creek, Rocky Branch and Smith Branch. A watershed, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, is a precipitation collector. The watershed associations aim to keep the water that flows through them clean and healthy and educate the public on how to accomplish that.

Water for Wine features a silent auction, a miniature live auction, a cork pull raffle, hors d’oeuvres from favorite Columbia restaurants, and wines from around the world.

Participating restaurants include Terra, 116 State, Dupre Catering and Events, White Duck Taco Shop, War Mouth and Za’s. Featured wine brands include Eppa SupraFruta Sangria, HobNob, Ruta 22, Josh Cellars and Barone Fini.

Auction items include gift certificates and merchandise from a long list of local stores and restaurants. Special packages to be auctioned off include a private plane ride over Columbia, the Congaree River and Lake Murray; a private tour of the Fireflies stadium; and a tour and tasting for four at the Mercer House Winery in Lexington. A few of the packages to be auctioned off require some travel – among them, an Isle of Palms beach house vacation rental, Disney Park Hopper passes, and a North Carolina mountain house getaway.

Tickets are $35 per person for members of any of the watersheds or Sustainable Midlands, $45 for nonmembers, or $50 for admission and membership to a watershed of your choice. Buy tickets until 5 p.m. Wednesday at www.sustainablemidlands.org or at www.eventbrite.com.

Rebekah Lewis Hall, rhall@thestate.com

This story was originally published April 20, 2016 at 9:36 AM with the headline "Wednesday’s Wine for Water event supports watersheds."