By LINDA KELLETT

C-S-E News Staff

FORT PLAIN — Lovers of chatreux, chausies, and dogues de Bordeaux breeds would have been right at home with local animal lovers sampling sauvignon blanc, merlot, and syrah wines during the Ayers Memorial Animal Shelter’s annual cheese and wine-tasting fundraiser last week.

The event, sponsored by the Wrath of Grapes wine and liquor store and Palatine Valley Dairy, was hosted at the Dome49 restaurant Wednesday.

Jonathan Rosemyer, vice-president of the Wrath of Grapes, served as the event sommelier and presided over the pouring of around a half dozen wines.

He said, “We try to get a whole variety of wines so you can try something you’d like and expand to something you think you might not like,” with the goal of “venturing into new flavors.”

On hand were a couple of white wines, ranging from a “nice, clean, crisp” dry sauvignon blanc from New Zealand to a sweeter, fruiter New York wine made with muscat grapes (Penguin Bay Moscato). Additionally, Jonathan featured three red wines: A merlot, a semi-dry red wine from California, and a full-bodied cabernet sauvignon from Chile — cultivated from original root stock.

Jonathan said his personal favorites were the Bully Hill Love My Goat wine from the Finger Lakes, because it’s made with organic grapes, uses soy inks and post-consumer glass and plastic; and the Cycles Gladiator Syrah, because it allegedly was banned in several Bible-belt states for having an “obscene” label. Ironically, the label makes use of the logo from an art poster painted in 1895 to advertise the bicycle of that name.

Fort Plain resident Joe Nalli, whose wife, Elaine, is a member of the shelter board of directors, said his favorite wine is a zinfandel from California. Prior to his wine-tasting experience, he predicted that he’d like a dry or semi-sweet wine the best and a sweet wine the least. True to form, he favored the cabernet; however his least favorite was the syrah.

Canajoharie resident Francis Slater, on the other hand, preferred the sweeter New York wines.

Shelter Vice-President Joseph Rosemyer said funds raised during the event were earmarked to benefit the general fund.

Although animal numbers fluctuate on a daily basis, the shelter, which serves nine local towns and two villages, currently has about 36 dogs and between 20 to 30 cats available for adoption.

Late this spring or early this summer, shelter board members anticipate breaking ground for a 1,700-square-foot addition, which will house two surgical suites and a meet-and-greet room.

Joseph said, “Basically, we’re transporting animals from the shelter to veterinarians as far as half an hour away for surgeries. Various vets are going to donate their time. That’ll be less stress on the animals because they don’t have to be transported half an hour each way.”

Shelter President Ann Aksztulewicz said the new space will be multi-purpose. “We’ll have it for rabies clinics and spay-neuter clinics.”

She said the shelter needs to raise $200,000 to pay for the addition. While the project is probably eligible for grants, she said they’re hard to come by right now.

“We’ve been doing very well with fundraisers,” she said, adding that the financial support of individuals like late-Rural Grove resident Eleanor Diehl, who bequeathed a generous contribution to the quality-of-life shelter, also helps.