I never really can justify a bottle of wine that cost more than $80 because, quite frankly, I can’t appreciate it yet. My palate, not to mention my wallet, does not have the “chops” it takes to distinguish these wines from my usual $15-$40 “school night” drinkers. But, while catching up on my WLTV episodes, Gary mentioned a wine that I thought maybe someday I could justify buying...
Gordon L. Holmes, a Wall Street publisher turned wine maker, and Lookout Ridge has gathered an amazing team of wine makers who are producing top-notch wines for a cause worth admiration: wheelchairs. That’s right, for every bottle of wine you buy from them, they donate the profits to Wine for Wheels, an organization that is dedicated to provide wheelchairs to people who can’t afford them.
Their dream-team cast of wine makers includes Andy Erickson, the wine maker at Screaming Eagle, Greg La Folette, from Tandem, Cathy Corison, Richard Arrowood, Aaron Pott, and so many more prestigious names.
The winery also delivers a personalized certificate with a photograph of the person your donation went to with the bottles of wine that you buy. Holmes realized the importance of having a wheelchair his wife developed a rare form of debilitating multiple sclerosis.
Here’s a bit from an article at Bloomberg.com that was written in Febuary that sums up the deal:
By 2000, Holmes was planting vineyards and hired top winemaker Greg La Follette to help him make wine from purchased grapes. Four years later he met California real-estate developer and philanthropist Ken Behring, who started the Wheelchair Foundation. That chance encounter and his wife's situation inspired his Wine for Wheels effort.
``The first time we distributed wheelchairs, in Mexico, I saw how one could instantly change someone's life,'' he says. ``I picked up a little boy whose dad was wheeling him in a wheelbarrow and sat him in a wheelchair. The look on his face now that he could get around by himself -- wow.''
Holmes, a self-confessed Type A personality, manages his own investment portfolio and also publishes three online newsletters on precious metals and energy.
``My uranium stocks have gone up 1,000 percent since 2001,'' he says. He leverages his financial connections to promote Wine for Wheels. Next week, when he attends a mining conference in Toronto, he'll take wine. Not to make money, he says, but to get on the 25,000 attendees' charity lists.
The winemakers he approached for his project were quick to sign on.
``Within 20 minutes of talking to Gordon, I was in,'' Erickson tells me later. ``I've traveled in South America and Asia and seen people with no legs living in boxes, trying to get around on skateboards. My wife and I were looking for some way to give something back.''
That is the beauty of wine- it’s not hardcore capitalism, it’s not all about the finance and profits, numbers and figures. Wine is about passion, love and companionship. It’s good to see such a talented group of people not only give to their love of wine, but give back to the community. To these philanthropists, they aren’t just trying to make money; they are trying to give to people who deserve more. They are trying to give back dignity, independence and faith. To a winemaker, there could be no greater reward.
I know the packages are pricey, but take a look anyway: http://www.lookoutridge.com/lookoutridge/page/wine-for-wheels.jsp
Cheers to you,
-Tatum
