CLEVELAND (WJW) — When you come to a restaurant like Edwins in Cleveland’s Shaker Square a fine wine is just a part of the meal. The wine here just got finer thanks to a tremendous gift.

247 bottles of wine, champagnes and other spirits worth more than $17,000 have been given as a gift to Edwins Leadership & Restaurant Institute.

The gift was donated by longtime Cleveland attorney and wine enthusiast Larry Weiser.

Edwins founder Brandon Chrostowski says the gift and sale of the spirits will help continue to fund the restaurant’s mission to help those who have been in trouble with the law to get back on their feet.

“Larry Weiser is good man and he wanted this wine to go to a good place.” Chrostowski said.

“Weiser was sentimental about these wines, and he wanted to make sure they went to someone who cared and not someone who would hit it and make some money,” Chrostowski said.

The wines vary in price from under $20 to thousands of dollars. There’s a rare bottle of Solara wine that’s 150 years old and a bottle from the 1980’S that was commissioned for Princess Dianna’s wedding.

Not every bottle is priceless, some bottles are over 50 years old and didn’t age as well so they’ll become training tools for staff looking to learn about the art of opening and decanting wine to serve table side.

Chrostowski said the great gift of wine will be served at wine tastings, while many other bottles will help the mission with training.

“It’s about building confidence in someone through culinary arts and hospitality. This is a building block we can use to help make someone confident faster and better.” he said. 

Edwins, several wineries and local farms will have a special dinner on August 17 to benefit The Ox Shop which is a non-profit education and employment center.