Carl and Terry Kanowsky will host “One September Night” – a wine tasting to benefit the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Clarita Valley – on Tuesday, Sept. 10 at Salt Creek Grille in Valencia. 

The Kanowskys recently hosted a “preview” tasting that featured the wines of Donelan Family Wines that will be served at the fundraiser.

In addition, Tamra Levine, Salt Creek Grille director of catering, served hors d’ouvres she had paired with each wine.

“I didn’t have a chance to taste the wine beforehand, which is what I normally do,” said Levine. “Instead, I went online and pulled up some tasting notes. That’s how I developed the menu.”

Donelan is a small, boutique winery in Sonoma County producing Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Grenache, and Roussanne.

The event will feature a Venus Roussanne with a passed risotto cake with tea smoked salmon appetizer followed by the 2011 Nancie Chardonnay with a grilled fennel crusted peach crowed with a tarragon-scented shrimp.

The Two Brothers Pinot Noir is paired with a Tandoori chicken Pizza. The final hors d’ouvres course, served with a Syrah Flight of Cuvee Christine Syrah, Walker Vine Hill Syrah and Obsidian Syrah, will be mushroom rigatoni pasta with grilled sausage.

Dessert bites will complete the evening.

This is the sixth benefit wine tasting hosted by the Kanowskys to raise funds for the Boys & Girls Club of SCV.

“We’re very excited to have Donelan wines attend,” said Carl Kanowsky. “They are known for their Rhone varietals. They will be pouring a wide spectrum of wines so it will be exciting to see what they have to offer.”

Kanowsky said the fundraiser will also include a few unique auction items.

“These are exclusive items,” he said.

For the Sept. 10 event Donelan has donated a few large bottles of wine and a private tour and tasting at Donelan winery.

“The tour is a very unique item. The day will begin with a tour of the vineyard with the wine maker, who will explain his vision for the wine, then it will continue on to the winery for a private tasting,” he said. “The tour will include a visit to the barrel room to do some barrel tasting as well as a dinner with winery representatives.”

Guests at the preview wine tasting included John and Debbie Hays, Elizabeth and Steve Hopp, Eve Bushman, Greg Amsler and Ronda Chobanian.

Cushing Donelan, sales and marketing at Donelan Family Wines, represented the wine maker and offered commentary on each of the wines served.

“You are enjoying the 2011 Nancie Chardonnay,” said Donelan. “Nancie is our grandmother. This is our third vintage of producing chardonnay. We have sourced what we think is some of the best Sonoma chardonnay sites.”

Donelan said what the winery is striving for is “light, fresh and energetic with great California fruit.”

“I think it is a beautiful wine,” Donelan said. “People are pleasantly surprised when they find out it is a chardonnay.”

The 2011 Nancie Chardonnay will be featured in an upcoming issue of Wine Spectator Magazine.

Guests were then introduced to the 2011 Two Brothers Pinot Noir.

The wine was named after Cushing Donelan and his brother Tripp.

The two Donelan brothers will also attend One September Night.

The final wine of the pre-tasting event was the 2010 Walker Vine Hill Syrah.

“We jumped right up to our high test,” said Donelan. “We have been working on this vineyard for the last 10 years. All of our wines are California wines but this is probably our most ‘California-esque’ wine. It’s a fan favorite.”

Kanowsky said proceeds from this sixth wine tasting should bring the combined donations from all the events to more than $100,000 to benefit the club. Previous wine makers that have participated in the fundraisers have included Mollydooker Wines, Talley Vineyards, Zaca Mesa Winery and Vineyards, Jaffurs Wine Cellars, Justin Vineyards and Winery and Siduri Wines and Novy Family Winery.

“We have had wineries ask to come back, so we will probably do a ‘reunion’ tasting at some point,” Kanowsky said.

Amsler, owner of Salt Creek Grille, is a strong supporter of the Boys & Girls Club of SCV.

“The Boys & Girls Club of SCV, like many nonprofits, is under tremendous financial pressure,” said Amsler. “If we support the Boys & Girls Club now it can prevent some kids from getting into trouble, which we have to pay for later.”

The “One September Night” wine tasting will benefit the Boys & Girls Club of SCV. Join hosts Carl and Terry Kanowsky on Tuesday, Sept. 10, at 6:30 p.m. at Salt Creek Grille, 24415 Town Center Drive, Valencia. Tickets are $75 before the event, $90 at the door. Visit www.scvbgc.org for tickets or call 661-254-3063.

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