12/02/2004

Vintners pour on generosity

In honor of Valentine's Day, let's all take a short break from carping about overpriced wines and show some love to a few of the many producers engaged in heartwarming charitable work.

To begin: hugs, kisses and glass-clinks all around.

The wine world long has been known for contributing high-profile bottles to black-tie benefits that raise millions of dollars. The Napa Valley Wine Auction, for example, has raised $50 million for local health care since 1981, including $6.5 million last year.

But lately, the goodness has been flowing on a more personal scale. Most commonly, vintners (and at least one brewery) are creating small-production brands and funneling the proceeds into noble causes, from building medical clinics to saving sea turtles. The dollars raised are in the thousands instead of the millions, but the public can participate more easily and (usually) more affordably than by attending a big-bucks auction.

A prime example is the Leducq Foundation, which is a major sponsor of international cardiovascular research and also oversees two wineries, the new Ehlers Estate in the Napa Valley and 21-year-old Prince Michel in central Virginia. Proceeds from the sales of Ehlers' cabernet, merlot and sauvignon blanc ($18-$28) and from Prince Michel's numerous wines go to the foundation and are expected to total $50,000 between them this year. The wines are available in stores, at the winery and through the Web sites www.ehlersestate.com and www.princemichel.com (for states where shipments are legal).

"For now, we find that people buy Ehlers for the quality of the wine, and the charity is something they learn about after they taste it," says COO Vance Rose. "But by selling it first on its quality and then with the added value of the philanthropy, we think it makes for solid, long-term customers."

Another successful venture is tiny Portfolio Winery in Napa, founded in 1998 by artist Luc Janssens and his wife Genevieve, director of winemaking at Robert Mondavi. Each year, they produce about 20 large-format bottles of a red blend called Portfolio Limited Edition, sell them for $1,000-$6,000 each and pour all of the profits into the Lao Rehabilitation Foundation, which fights hunger and builds medical clinics in Laos. The wines are available at the winery and through www.portfoliowinery.com. Last year, they raised about $35,000, mostly from sales of the wine and Luc's photogravure works.

"I believe in miracles," Luc says. "One element that can't be separated from winemaking is the concept of sharing with people. To make a premium wine that sells at high prices and whose profits go to one of the poorest countries in the world is challenging and rewarding. I do it because I am so selfish and it makes me feel so good."

Among other producers who are uncorking good feelings:

�Schramsberg. The Napa Valley sparkling wine producer makes about 250 cases annually of Querencia Brut Rose ($32.50) in conjunction with the Wine Spectator Greystone Restaurant at the Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena, Calif. Proceeds go to the non-profit Jack L. Davies Land Preservation Fund (named after Schramsberg's founder, who helped create the Napa Valley agricultural preserve). The wine, sold at the winery and the restaurant, has generated $35,000 for the fund since 1998.

�Quivira Estate Vineyards. In May, this Sonoma County winery will release nearly 3,000 cases of a special wine in a partnership with Trout Unlimited, a non-profit watershed-conservation group. The winery is repackaging one of its existing blends, calling it Steelhead Red ($17), and selling it in stores nationwide, at the winery and through www.quivirawine.com.

�Honu Brewing Co. This microbrewery, an offshoot of Portland (Ore.) Brewing Co., has just introduced a pale ale to be sold only in Hawaii, called Honu Beer ($7 a six-pack). It will donate 20% of the proceeds to the non-profit World Turtle Trust, which protects sea turtles (www.world-turtle-trust.org).

�Wine for Life. Sixty top Italian winemakers are participating in a program that raises money to fight AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. The wineries buy round, red and blue "Wine for Life" stickers from the non-profit Sant'Egidio Community charity for a half-euro each (about 61 cents) and affix them to bottles of one of their best wines (they agree not to pass the cost on to consumers). In the first year, the equivalent of $250,000 has been collected. For a list of participating wineries (some of which export to this country), visit www.santegidio.org/it/wineforlife/vini.htm.

�Merryvale. The Napa Valley winery is working with retailers and restaurateurs in 15 major markets to raise money for AIDS awareness. Between March 1 and June 30, Merryvale will donate $5 from the sale of each bottle of 2000 Profile ($79) red blend and 2000 and 2001 Silhouette Chardonnay ($45) to Project Inform (www.projectinform.org).

�Humanitas. Winemaker Judd Wallenbrock sells three wines ($15-$25) under this non-profit label that he launched last year, and already he has raised about $15,000 for several charities, including Habitat for Humanity. The wines, which carry the tag line "drink charitably," are available through www.humanitaswines.com.

"I think there is a huge opportunity to change how businesses do things, through what I call 'compassionate capitalism,' " says Wallenbrock, a former executive with DeLoach Vineyards. "It's like self-imposed taxation � but without the government doing it."

Jerry Schriver