I want to give money to…Staglin

Those of you who know me well know that I am a big fan of good wine, and it isn’t often that I’m blown away by a wine or a winery. This past weekend I was.

Staglin Family Vineyard is my new favorite winery, and not just because they have great wines. They give 100% of the profits from their Salus wines to mental health research. https://www.imhro.org.

Not 10%. Not 25%. 100%. Their efforts haven’t just raised a couple of million, they have raised nearly $725M!! Beyond impressive, and true commitment.

Let me get back to the story. I took some friends to Napa for a winery tour last weekend (for Mari’s bday), and Staglin was our first visit. They made special accommodations for Mari’s birthday, and the family was there in person to host us. They were exceptionally gracious. They have a gorgeous vineyard, immaculate production facilities, and when they describe how they choose the berries by hand, making sure there are never any stems, you can’t help but be impressed. Their bottling facility and caves are immaculate. You would feel comfortable eating off the floors. And the wines… amazing. All of them. Most rankings put them in the mid-to-high 90’s. For those who don’t care about rankings, I can just tell you that the nose, mouth feel, levels of complexity– all beautiful.

Then they told us about their philanthropy, and I think you could have heard a pin drop in the room. Their son Brandon was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1990, and they started a non-profit to raise money for mental health research. Brandon is doing extremely well today, and they are every bit as committed now as they were then to the cause. Hearing their story and witnessing their commitment will bring tears to your eyes– this family is literally changing the world for the better. http://staglinfamily.com/philanthropy.html.

Supporting this worthy charity AND drinking amazing wine? I’m in.