Wineries Feed the Needy As They Sate the Soul

The irony was not lost when I bumped into winery owner Dick Grace at San Francisco’s bounteous Sardinian restaurant La Ciccia recently. I wanted to talk about his decades-long efforts of giving to less-fortunate people around the globe, which included feeding many who would be incredulous at the splendid meal we were enjoying that night.

Grace, who recently sold his Grace Family Vineyards in St. Helena after 40 vintages, is among a myriad of vintners who are genuine and exhaustive in their philanthropic endeavors, and resolute in their determination to help alleviate hunger and other maladies in the world.

Numerous wineries and wine-related organizations in our area are philanthropically oriented. This is a story about a handful of those.

Grace Family Vineyards, along with DeLoach Vineyards, Jordan Winery and Ca’Momi Winery, and annual events such as the whimsically titled Pigs & Pinot, are some that contribute sizeable donations to causes that specifically benefit hunger-relieving projects.

Sonoma County–based DeLoach Vineyards, one of the properties in Jean Charles Boisset’s Boisset Collection, donates 100% of the net proceeds from sales of its Russian River Valley Vinthropic Chardonnay and Pinot Noir to the Redwood Empire Food Bank (REFB).

A DeLoach spokesperson explains, “[We’re] most definitely [engaged in] an effort to help ease hunger. We feel that REFB is an important charity because it is essential to a person’s ability to succeed in life. Food is central to an individual having the physical and mental energy to sustain themselves, as well as contribute to society.”

At Jordan Winery, which also grows olive trees on its Alexander Valley property above Healdsburg, spokesperson Lisa Mattson tells me, “When we have surplus vintages for olive oil, we donate the oil to places like Sonoma Family Meal and Project Open Hand in San Francisco. When we have surplus from the garden, we always offer it to Sonoma Family Meal. There is also a garden for at-risk kids that we have funded, [which] helps keep them off the streets by learning about the workings of a farm and how to grow their own food. …”

Napa’s Ca’Momi Winery and its related Ca’Momi Osteria on First Street in downtown Napa, have contributed more than $40K to disaster relief by offering food and other aid to disaster victims and first responders. The winery, according to a spokesperson, makes regular, ongoing contributions to numerous organizations throughout the Napa Valley, the Bay Area, the country and abroad. “It is our mission to provide support to those whose voices are most often unheard, and who are of the greatest need. Many of these organizations cater to underserved communities, terminally ill wish-granting, natural disaster recovery and rebuilding efforts. It is our goal to bring to light the work these organizations do, as well as support their work with regular donations.

“Aside from being able to showcase our brand to new audiences, the benefit and reason we help as often as we do is simply because we want to and we can.”

For the last 14 years, renowned chef Charlie Palmer has hosted the Celebration of Pigs & Pinot at his Dry Creek Kitchen in Healdsburg. Th e event showcases some of the “world’s greatest” Pinot Noirs paired with pork-centric dishes. According to the organization, all net proceeds go to Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry effort, among others. More than $1.3 million has been raised to date.

“We believe in the mission of the organization that no kid in America should go hungry,” Palmer wrote through an intermediary. “Our goal is to constantly enrich this community—where we live, eat and drink.”

About a month prior to the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center, winemaker and humanitarian Judd Wallenbrock opened his Humanitas Wines in Napa after leaving the corporate wine world.

“I began to think about my next steps and, being a wine freak, I had always wanted my own winery. But the last thing we needed was another winery polluting an already overcrowded industry,” he wrote me. “Two other things: I had no money, and I had a burning desire to simply ‘do good,’ give back, get some meaning to my life by helping others less fortunate. Near as I can tell [Humanitas] is the first winery dedicated to giving something to charity from every bottle sold, rather than a promotional period of time.” Over the years, Wallenbrock, who sold Humanitas two years ago and is currently the president and CEO of C. Mondavi winery, said he contributed “close to $400,000” to charity.

“I did it simply because I wanted to do something good and give back to those less fortunate,” he continued. “When you don’t have money, you volunteer. So, I volunteered my time, until I could create a revenue stream through the sale of my wines. What I reaped from being philanthropic is certainly not financial, as I gave the money away. But it did teach me that people really do care about cause-marketing concepts and will put their money into brands that ‘do good.’ And it also gave me an enormous sense of pride knowing that I was finally helping others.”

For some, the thought of not doing at least something to alleviate the suffering of others is as unthinkable as the seemingly intransigent problems are to others. Dick Grace put it this way: “I am certainly aware that my efforts will, in the larger scheme of things, have little impact; but to make no effort to close these gaps is reprehensible. I might be like a grain of sand on a vast beach insofar as affecting the total problem, but I would rather be a single grain of sand then sit on my ass and do nothing.”

In keeping with the hunger theme of this special 10th anniversary issue, the wineries and wine-related organizations highlighted here give to hunger-focused causes, but it should be said that the wine and food industry is notable in its overall charitable giving. Auction Napa Valley, the annual event organized by Napa Valley Vintners, has raised more than $185 million to be “invested” in children’s education and community health over the last 39 years. The V Foundation’s Wine Celebration has raised more than $108 million for cancer research endeavors since 1998; $18.2 million of that was raised last August, which it claims is the “biggest [charitable] night in the history of Napa Valley.” Wineries involved include the aforementioned Grace Family, Harlan, Chappellet, Vineyard 29 and Nickel & Nickel.