Most of you in the Valley know of the wonderful children’s organization, Encompass. They have been working since 1967 with the goal of nurturing children, enriching families and inspiring the community.

Encompass has been such an amazing asset for the Valley and, like most not-for-profit organizations, they can always use our help. The good news is that you can keep Encompass strong and have a wonderful time doing it, too. Thanks to Encompass, there is an amazing wine event coming to town, Sip Of Snoqualmie.

How exciting — move over, Taste of Washington! This is going to be such an amazing, monumental event, and I am personally very excited for it. I think the Valley has needed something like this for some time.

Sip of Snoqualmie is Saturday, March 14, at the Snoqualmie Casino, and will feature 32 excellent Washington wineries. How often is North Star, Fidelities or Hightower Cellars going to come all the way out to Snoqualmie for a tasting of their premium wines? There are going to be some great wineries here, folks. Check the Encompass Web site, www.encompass.org, to see the list of all the wineries that will be pouring.

There will of course be gourmet appetizers to be enjoyed with your many choices of wines. High-end wines will be raffled off, and a silent auction will feature some special gems.

This event is attracting people from all over. It sure would be nice for a lot of you locals to make it and show Encompass your support. Tickets are going fast!

Sip Of Snoqualmie starts at 6:30 p.m. for general admission. Or, if you want to attack all the top wines first, a VIP ticket entry is planned at 4:30 pm. General admission is $50, or $150 for VIP. I would say that the general admission is a bargain, especially considering how much a bottle of wine costs in a restaurant these days.

Don’t forget, all the proceeds go to help Encompass.

March happens to be Washington Wine Month. What better way to celebrate it than the Sip Of Snoqualmie? Great food, great company and great wines. I hope to see you there.

• E-mail The Wine Guy at ramthewineguy@gmail.com.