New for this year's A Gourmet Sensation will be a silent auction of six of the wines featured at the dinner. One case of each will be sold, with the starting price based on its retail value. Proceeds will benefit Hospice of Cincinnati.

The most intriguing wines up for auction are two reds: the 2000 Lemelson Pinot Noir "Thea's Selection" from Willamette Valley, Oregon, and the 1999 Muga Reserva Rioja from Spain.

Established in 1932, Bodegas Muga is now one of the top traditional producers of Rioja. A grandson of the founder, Manuel Muga, travels to Ohio to buy oak. He ages the wood for three years before manufacturing the vats and barrels for his wine. This unfiltered Rioja ($19.99 a bottle) is aged six months in Ohio oak vats. That's followed by two years in Ohio and French oak barrels, then a year in the bottle before being released.

Eric Lemelson has no family background in making wine, but he's passionate about pinot noir. His organic, hand-crafted style of winemaking is labor intensive and expensive. Though his first vintage was 1999, Lemelson's wines have already earned kudos from sommeliers across the country. The Thea's Selection pinot noir ($29.99 a bottle) is named for Lemelson's mother. It's supple and medium-bodied, with red fruit flavors and a note of pepper.

Rebecca Goodman