By Karen MacNeil
Wine’s Time is Now
The Statue of Liberty was crumbling. But in 1986, after five years and $250 million, the Statue was “Relit” in a thrilling nationwide celebration presided over by President Ronald Reagan. No matter what your political affinity today, the relighting of the Statue of Liberty was a magical event.
I was, at the time, the first food and wine editor of USA Today, based in Washington DC, and I had what I thought was a simple but potentially exciting idea. What if, at the exact moment that the Statue’s giant torch was relit, wine drinkers across America, toasted the Statue of Liberty with a glass of American wine? I named the event “A Toast to Liberty,” and I called Jim Trezise, then the President of the New York Wine and Grape Foundation, to see if New York wineries would be involved.
Anyone who knows Jim knows his answer was immediately yes. And then I called the trade groups representing Oregon, Washington State, and Texas.
Amazingly, on the night of the relighting, not only were wineries across the US involved, but many restaurants across the US served their guests a complimentary glass of American wine to toast with. CBS TV interviewed me live from Jean Louis at the Watergate, then the most powerful restaurant in Washington DC where everyone was lifting a glass of wine.
I think back to that moment now because as the 250th Anniversary of America seizes our national consciousness, I realize that some things about America have changed (okay a lot of things), but a love of our country has not. In fact America needs us to love it more than ever.
Not unlike wine.
We know that many of the 12,000 wineries in the US are now facing difficult, sometimes heart-wrenching, times. And we also know that wine has built many rural communities in the US and sustained them for a century.
As wine drinkers, as Americans, we need to re-fill our hearts (and glasses) with what’s possible. Wine is the historic national drink of America, and as this 250th anniversary progresses, we can all, quietly in our own ways, share a delicious wine.After all, the Founding Fathers were drinking wine when they signed the Declaration of Independence. Francis Scott Keyes was drinking wine when he composed the Star Spangled Banner. At the first Congressional Congresses, the Congress members always drank wine. Ironically, wine—not spirits—was the forerunner of what would eventually become the American “cocktail party.”
This year, my cofounders Kimberly Charles and Gino Colangelo and I are thinking hard about the mission-driven company we founded in 2024: Come Together—A Community for Wine. It was (and is) a pro-bono effort on our part, and the two campaigns we have launched—Come Over October and Share & Pair Sundays—have so far reached 2.9 billion impressions in the media with another 5.6 on social media. They are the largest pro-wine grassroots campaigns ever launched in the US. It’s taken us thousands of hours that we continue to be proud of. And we’re not done yet.
But the campaigns don’t happen alone. They happen because wineries, trade groups, restaurants, retail stores, magazines, importers and distributors all feel the passion. We have all felt it for our adult lives: wine needs protecting. It needs champions. It needs wine drinkers to share wine with friends and family. Or even sometimes share a great glass just with yourself. Because you believe in authenticity, nature, and the good that comes from drinking an artisanal product connected to the earth.
I invite you to celebrate THIS most important month by sharing a bottle of wine, and when fall comes, we can’t wait for you to be a part of Come Over October simply by sharing the world’s most historic beverage with friends or family.
A personal thank you from me to WineAmerica and to all of our sponsors. And for more information about Come Together—A Community for Wine or about easy ways you can have your own Come Over October get-together this fall, visit us at www.comeoveroctober.com
Karen MacNeil is a speaker and author. Her book, The Wine Bible, is one of the best selling wine books. She is a cofounder of the movements Come Over October and Share & Pair Sundays. She can be reached at www.karenmacneil.com.
Dining and Cooking