Or: Tilting at Windmills, It’s What We Do
Two and a half years ago, I started on a quixotic journey with famed wine writer and author of The Wine Bible, Karen MacNeil, and fellow wine PR agency owner Kimberly Noelle Charles, DipWSET. Our goal was audacious: to create a positive narrative around wine in the face of frequent biased reporting in consumer media and a general malaise in the wine community, driven by the economic downturn, changing consumer habits and a proliferation of competitors like marijuana and THC beverages. Whether in politics or pop culture, narrative has become paramount to “fact,” and we understood that wine was losing the positive narrative in the US.
Our work together has been a personally rewarding journey for me with two committed, passionate and powerful partners. Our partnership has coalesced around two consumer-focused wine advocacy campaigns, Come Over October (now coming up on Year 3) and Share & Pair Sundays (just completed Year 2). Our campaigns, executed in partnership with hundreds of wine companies—from producers, media companies and trade organizations to retailers, distributors and importers—have reached millions of wine drinkers and potential wine drinkers through earned media (3.7 billion impressions), social media and our website (5.7 million touchpoints), winery tasting rooms and wine retail stores (over 1,400 stores running Come Over October promotions reaching 7 million consumers).
Through all our activity over the past several years (which has been entirely volunteer- and mission-driven), there has been one constant: the common language used by the people we’ve engaged with to describe why wine matters. We’ve interviewed a grandmother from an assisted living facility in Minnesota, a New York Times wine critic, a pop music artist, an NBA star and so many others. Following are a few of the comments we’ve gathered through those interviews and conversations:
“Sharing food and wine is life itself. It is a common denominator we all have.”
Lidia Bastianich, chef and PBS television personality
“Over a shared drink, we get to reminisce about parts of our lives, raising a family, the loss of a friend, and celebrating the golden phase of our lives.”
Anita LeBrun, 82-year-old Minnesota grandmother and assisted living resident who successfully lobbied for a new law allowing nursing home residents to be served wine
Photo credit: Anita LeBrun
“You give someone a bottle, and you give them the story of the person and place behind it. Then they get to take that to a dinner party or a get-together with friends, own that story and share it… [They’re] all sharing it together, and it opens up a really beautiful, intimate connection. With wine, it always comes back to the story… you’re bottling magic.”
Performing artist Alecia Moore (aka Pink!)
Photo Credit: Andrew MacPherson
“Wine enhances the whole [dining] experience. It enhances conversation, it makes food taste better, it does bring people together.”
Eric Asimov, New York Times wine critic
“Hip hop is a lifestyle the same way wine is a lifestyle. It’s about emotional connections.”
Jermaine Stone, President & CEO**,** Cru Luv Wine, host of the Wine and Hip Hop Show
Photo Credit: Andrew Fennel
“The crisis of isolation has never been more prevalent, and I suspect it is harming us far faster than an innocent glass of wine (or two) ever could.”
Jacki Strum, President and Publisher, Wine Enthusiast Media
The list above is just a small sample; visit ComeOverOctober.com for many more examples.
This consistent language from such diverse sources, brought together through our wine advocacy campaigns—Come Over October and Share & Pair Sundays—can serve as a foundation for companies across the wine world to utilize in their own communications to both trade and consumer audiences. As a communications professional, I know that when we relentlessly deliver positive, consistent messages, those messages get “sticky” and resonate with Americans who buy wine or may potentially buy wine. Like all successful messaging, we keep it simple:
Wine is culture
It carries stories from every corner of the world.
Wine is (often sustainable) agriculture
It connects us to the land and seasons.
Wine is good economics for farming communities around the world
Per acre, wine grapes are one of the most valuable agricultural products in the world and according to WineAmerica’s 2025 Economic Impact Study, wine tourism generates more than $14 billion in business in the US alone.
Wine is history
It links us to centuries of human tradition.
Wine is food
It enhances every meal and gathering and belongs on the dinner table.
Wine is social
Unlike anything else, it has the power to bring people together.
When Karen, Kimberly and I started working together (now joined by Executive Director Barbara Fitzgerald), we agreed that we wouldn’t debate health claims. We would do what we do best: communicate about wine culture and why wine matters. Over the past two and a half years, we haven’t wavered from that mission. The companies, organizations and individuals who have supported and leveraged our campaigns in their own unique and creative ways validate our belief that we’re on the right track with how we communicate about wine. The expansion of our campaign to Canada in 2025 (with plans to activate again in 2026) makes our movement international.
As more companies participate, our message spreads farther, and our campaigns become more powerful. So, whether you produce wine, run a wine store or restaurant, distribute wine, or promote wine directly to consumers, join the Come Over October movement and add your voice to the common language we all share about wine, helping us create a positive and enduring wine culture in the US.
Gino Colangelo
President, Colangelo & Partners
Gino founded Colangelo & Partners in 2006 after spending more than 10 years in global communications with Dentsu Inc. and 10 years running his own retail business, a unique experience in the agency world. Colangelo & Partners is now the leading wine communications agency in the US with a prestigious domestic client list as well as a A+ international client roster, all supported by a diverse and talented team of communications professionals representing 16 countries from around the world. Colangelo & Partners offers four core services: Press Relations, Digital Marketing (Social Media, Influencer Marketing and Media Planning), Event Marketing and Trade Relations. Gino is very proud of the Colangelo & Partners team, the growth of individual employees, and the partnerships the agency has built with our prestigious global family of clients.
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