Hyatt grabs grand prize at 9th wine rally

THE moment the bar opened and the Happy Hours started, there was no stopping the guests from downing glasses after glasses of Rutherford Ranch Merlot and Rutherford Ranch Chardonnay (California).

The grand prize winners

The final party has begun.
In a lavish finale on Thursday night, Hyatt Regency grabbed the most coveted grand prize for the 9th Wine Rally campaign which ran from May 1 to Aug. 31, 2008— a Wine Rally prize tour to the Rodney Strong Winery in Sonoma Country.
Hyatt Regency came up with a total of 1,497 points by cases, followed by the Pacific Islands Club with 1,078 points; Aqua Resort Club with 493 points; Fiesta Resort & Spa with 342 points; Sandcastle Saipan with 190 points; World Resort Saipan with 135 points; Palms Resort Saipan with 125 points; Revolving Restaurant 360 Inc with 80 points; Mariana Resort & Spa with 75 points; Country House Saipan with 65; Tony Roma’s with 13; Coral Ocean Point with 10 and Capricciosa Saipan with 3 points.
With sheer luck, Northern Marianas Bartenders Association president Lito Espino’s cork entry was drawn as this year’s winner of $500 from a barrelful of entries.
For the past four months, key players in the food and beverage industry competed with each other in a battle of salesmanship. Four monthly wine rallies were held at Saipan World Resort, Grand Hotel Saipan, Palms Resort Saipan and at the Aqua Resort Club.

A beaming wine rally raffle draw winner Lito Espino of the Aqua Resort Club waves his giant $500 check.

Food and beverage staff members of hotels and restaurants and the industry’s top executives had a grand time sampling and sipping the best wines, participating in games, mingling with old friends and making new ones while listening to the upbeat music from different bands.
The Wine Rally is an annual promotion organized by the Pacific Wine & Spirits, a competition to encourage servers to sell as many bottles of fine wines as possible during the promo duration.
“The parties are our way to say thank you to the food & beverage industry for their hard work in promoting PWS’ fine wine brands,” Anneliese Wenden, PWS Brand Manager said.

(For more photos, PRESS ME. This article is originally published here)

Party host Brad Ruszala reads the name from a winning cork while PWS marketing coordinator Orleyne Tabucanon prepares the cash prizes. Looking on are PWS general manager Dan Matsuno (second from left) and Steve Balakrishna, PIC Food & Beverage manager.