Annual Grand Cru Event Popular with Donors, Sponsors & Supporters

Under a canopy of blue skies and cool ocean breezes, a crowd of 1,500 volunteers, sponsors and patrons came together on Saturday, August 20 to support LAFLA’s annual Long Beach Grand Cru Public Tasting, held at Rainbow Lagoon Park in Long Beach. The event, featuring award-winning wines from the Grand Cru International Wine Competition and delicacies from over 25 local restaurants and specialty food stores, raised $315,000 to support LAFLA’s services.

We thank the Grand Cru Board of Directors for recruiting 25 new sponsors this year, bringing the total sponsorship to 90. These supporters recognized that legal aid for the poor is facing a crisis, and stepped up to help fill our funding challenges. In attendance were State Senator Alan Lowenthal, State Assemblymember Bonnie Lowenthal, Los Angeles County Bar Association President-Elect Richard A. Burdge, Jr., the Hon. Lee Smalley Edmon, Presiding Judge, Los Angeles Superior Court, and Los Angeles County Superior Court Judges, Michael P. Vicencia and James D. Otto.

The heavy load of planning and executing the event was carried by our more than 200 volunteers,  who contributed 5,000 hours and helped make the event a resounding success. For more details on the event and a list of medal-winning wines, please visit the Grand Cru website at www.longbeachgrandcru.org. 

Long Beach Grand Cru Backgriound & Photos from the 2011 Grand Cru Public Tasting Event

The Long Beach Grand Cru is a premier, international wine competition and public tasting fundraising event of the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, one of the largest public interest law firms in the nation. Proceeds from the event benefit LAFLA’s programs and services in Los Angeles County, including the Long Beach/Harbor area. Visit the Grand Cru on Facebook and join the fanbase.

Grand Cru Background

The Grand Cru International Wine Competition solicits worldwide winery participation, and 564 wineries from 24 states and 9 countries entered 1,947 wines in 2008. Medals are awarded to winners in the following categories: Sweepstakes, Chairman’s Best of Class, Gold, Silver and Bronze. All of the competition medal winners are served at the Grand Cru Public Tasting.

The festive Public Tasting is the most fun and festive wine and food tasting event of its kind in Southern California. The open-air event attracts over 1,200 business, civic and community leaders to taste award-winning wines, sample delicacies from the area’s top restaurants, enjoy live music, and bid on select items in live and silent auctions. Together, the International Wine Competition and Public Tasting events raised over $331,000 in 2008 and have generated $2.8 million since the Grand Cru’s inception in 1995.

The Grand Cru maintains a volunteer base of 300 individuals who donated over 7,600 hours in 2009 to help stage the competition and public tasting.

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