Participating in the 2009 Mass Street Mosey event at Saffee’s, 911 Mass., from left, are Kristin Eldridge, Saffee’s staffer Cheryl Eckles, Saffee’s owner Steve Mercurio and Mosey volunteer Dave Hazlett. This year’s Salute! begins Thursday.

Whether you are a seasoned wine aficionado or novice sipper, the many different delectable flavors of wine, food and ambiance at Lawrence’s 12th annual Salute! are sure to whet your social palate.

Salute! (pronounced sa-LOO-tay, in case you’re new in town), sponsored by Standard Beverage Corporation, is the three-day wine and food festival to benefit Cottonwood Inc., 2801 W. 31st St., a nonprofit organization that provides services to individuals with developmental disabilities.

“Doing benefits is always a cool change of pace since I’m usually in the kitchen day after day,” says Pachamama’s executive chef Ken Baker, whose smoked Ono and Apple-Smoked Bacon Rumaki is on the menu of the festival’s finale event, the Grand Tasting.

Salute! celebrity co-chair Kendall Gammon, retired Pro Bowler for the Kansas City Chiefs, says that he enjoys promoting the festival because it is different from most other charity benefits.

“A lot of the time, you read about the charity and maybe see some pictures,” he says. “But to experience it firsthand and actually meet the people that benefit from Salute! gives you a sense of how important a cause it is.”

The ambiance of each Salute! event is unique and designed to fit different incomes, says Cottonwood’s director of community relations, Peggy Wallert, who has been coordinating the fundraiser for 10 years.

“There’s a totally different feel about the Mosey compared to the other two events,” she says. “It’s Lawrence, it’s diverse, it’s casual — we’re blessed to have that downtown.”

All 500 available tickets for the festival’s kick-off event, the Mass Street Mosey, sold out in 3 1/2 days, says Wallert.

Mass Street Mosey veteran Mary Nichols calls Wallert every January to make sure that she and her girlfriends are able to buy tickets once they go on sale come June 1.

“We all work so many hours,” Nichols says. “It’s just nice to have that time to see everybody at a really close, fun event.”

Although Nichols says she has been to wine tastings in California’s Napa Valley region and abroad, she says she likes the locality and selection Salute! serves up each year.

“You get a variety of wines rather than wines from just one vineyard, and you’re also having to drive distances to get to the different wineries in Napa,” she says. “And here you get foods to go with your wine, too.”

Salute!’s second-day event, the Winemaker Dinner, is an elegant, intimate gourmet meal during which the featured winemaker talks about why each wine is paired with each entrée, Wallert says.

“I’m just always amazed at the beauty of the preparation and artistry that comes from the chefs — almost like a piece of art,” Wallert says.

Like the dry taste of Pinot Noir versus the more saccharine white Zinfandel, not everyone feels the same way.

“It takes a little bit of pre-planning, but I don’t really get riled up about these things like I used to. What I do is not rocket science,” says Baker, who tries to pair wines with food that is refreshing and reflects the current season.

“I bring together flavors that work for a reason and bend the rules every once in a while. I try to make it a natural progression and make the ingredients speak for themselves rather than manipulate them too much,” he says. “Some of it is science, some of it is imagination and art.”

The festival’s closing event, the Grand Tasting, will showcase over 250 varieties of wine, beer and spirits for guests to sample as well as a live and silent auction.

“It’s like one of your favorite parties,” Wallert says.

“There’s no outside entertainment because we don’t want to take the focus away from the sampling and camaraderie,” she says. “In the past we have had jazz trios, but this year it’s at The Oread, which is a venue that lends itself to entertainment.”

Says Gammon, who is about to uncork his fourth year as a Salute! celebrity co-chairman, “We’re very fortunate that we have the ability to do these extra things to help people. It’s nice to give back to folks.”

Cheers to that.