Hyatt Regency Saipan grabbed the grand prize for earning a total of 1,459 volume points (by cases) from May 1 to Aug. 31, 2009 during a lavish finale at the Sand Castle Saipan on Thursday evening — a Wine Rally prize tour to three New World wineries in Napa Valley.
Aqua Resort Club followed with 460 points, Pacific Islands Club with 175 , Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan with 148, SandCastle Saipan with 91, Country House Restaurant and Mariana Resort & Spa both with 65, Tony Roma’s Saipan with 25, and Capricciosa Garapan with 10.
Featured wines for this year were Ravenswood Zinfandel, Ravenswood Cabernet Sauvignon, Ravenswood Chardonnay and Petalo Moscato Spumante.
SandCastle bartender Lito Golingo is this year’s $500 winner in the grand raffle drawing.
Golingo said he dropped about 50 wine bottle corks as entries.
“I did not think I would win. There were thousands of other entries but I’m very happy,” Golingo told the Variety.
He said he exerted extra effort in convincing customers and diners to try the different wines featured by Pacific Wines and Spirits in the last four months.
Since May, key players in the food and beverage industry competed with each other in a battle of salesmanship.
The four wine rallies were held at Mariana Resort & Spa in June, Fiesta Resort & Spa in July, Pacific Islands Club in August and at the final rally at SandCastle Saipan.
The members of the food and beverage industry who joined the final rally were treated to over an hour’s entertainment which included a magic show, free flowing wines and sumptuous food and desserts.
The Wine Rally is an annual promotion and competition organized by the Pacific Wine & Spirits to encourage servers to sell as many bottles of fine wines as possible during the promo period.
Pacific Wine & Spirits marketing coordinator Orleyne Tabucanon said the turnout was good for the four wine rallies despite the hard economic situation.
“This just indicates that the people are still finding time to relax and unwind despite the crisis,” she said.
Tabucanon said Pacific Wine & Spirits has reached another milestone in celebrating its 10th anniversary.
“I would like to thank all the stakeholders in the beverage industry who worked with us in promoting our fine wines through all these years,” Tabucanon said.
She added that they are hoping for another successful event next year. Brad Ruszala of IT&E hosted the four wine rallies.
