FORESTVILLE, NY (October 31, 2011) - Excitement at Merritt Estate Winery continues to build this week as the company announces that they will again be a major sponsor  of this year's Catwalk for Charity. This is the third consecutive year that Merritt will act as the exclusive wine sponsor for the highly anticipated event to be held in Buffalo this December.

            The sixth annual Catwalk for Charity will be held on Sunday, December 4 at 6 p.m. at the Town Ballroom in downtown Buffalo. The event will be hosted by Buffalo Sabres goalie Ryan Miller and his Steadfast Foundation and is exclusively for individuals over the age of 21.

            The Steadfast Foundation was created in 2006 by Ryan Miller and his father in an effort to help support families battling cancer. The non-profit corporation strives to raise money and awareness for the devastating disease that affects so many individuals each and every day. The foundation maintains the concept of providing the best environment possible so that individuals may develop a better ability to fight their disease.  Catwalk for Charity serves as the primary fundraising event for the foundation each year. Proceeds from the event will be used to sustain invaluable cancer driven programs in the Western New York area including but not limited to Carly's Club for Kids and cancer research at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute.

            Some of the highlights for this year's Catwalk for Charity include appearances by various Buffalo Sabres players, Buffalo Bills players and local and national sports and movie celebrities, a VIP Red Carpet hosted by E! Chief News Correspondent Ken Baker, live and silent auctions and a live performance by country music artist Craig Morgan. In addition to these highlights, the event will host its signature fashion show featuring the Buffalo Sabres lineup dressed in clothing representative of the theme for the night, "Wrangling for a Cause".

            Merritt Winery will design a customized bottle for the event and will act as the exclusive wine sponsor for the VIP pre-party and main reception. The winery has created customized bottles for Catwalk for Charity in 2009 and 2010 and for the Steadfast Foundation. The collectible bottles will be used as sponsor gifts and sold throughout the evening. All proceeds from bottle sales will go directly to the Steadfast Foundation.

            "Catwalk for Charity is an event that we look forward to participating in every year", said Jessi Luke, Public Relations and Promotions person for Merritt Estate Winery. "We have had the chance to work with Ryan Miller many times before at both his events and our own. He is an absolute pleasure to work with, and we could not be more pleased to continue our participation as the wine sponsor for such a great cause."

            Individual tickets for this year's Catwalk for Charity are $200 each and can be purchased on the foundation's web site at www.thesteadfastfoundation.com. More information on the event can be found on the foundation's Facebook and Twitter pages. Also, advance bidding on select auction items is now available at www.catwalk2011.com.

For more information on Merritt news and events, visit www.merrittestatewinery.com or find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/merrittwinery.

Merritt Estate is located in Lake Erie Wine Country, the largest grape growing region of New York State located along the shores of Lake Erie. The grapes and wines produced by Merritt rival the quality of premium vintages throughout the world.