Josh Groban and Halleck Vineyard are making a wine to support the arts in public schools across the US!
I couldn’t be more grateful for this new friendship and partnership. It’s been so fun already, and it just started!
Now let me offer some background on Josh Groban as a team-mate:
Halleck Vineyard was planted as a college fund for our sons in 1993.
When we planted a one-acre vineyard in our back yard, the dream was in place, but the outcome far exceeded any fantasy; our first Halleck Vineyard wine achieved #1 Pinot in the US in the 2003 Pinot Noir Summit. We made the wine with a neighbor, Greg Lafollette, vintner “extraordinaire” (formerly Flowers Winery fame) for Tandem Winery, his first winery on his own. Greg’s and our kids attended school together. Fast forward: we’ve been supporting education ever since. A
Fast forward: we’ve been supporting education ever since. A member-benefit of the Halleck Vineyard Inner Circle is that we will create a live auction lot for any charity of choice. The lion’s share has been for school programs. Two years ago, we achieved $28K for lunch for six to benefit the Sun Valley Center for the Arts educational program.
Josh was introduced to our lives by a new and dear friend in New York City, Jim Erlick. Josh is a wine lover and had been hoping to make wine for years. Jim is a Halleck Vineyard enthusiast and promoter by trade. Upon Jim introducing Josh to Halleck Vineyard, Josh reached out to explore a collaboration.
We launched our project together on June 5, just this month, from the stage at City Winery in NYC. The venue was coincidental, but like everything else in our meeting, synchronistic.
Josh has a foundation called “Find Your Light”, which supports arts education across the US. I took the stage at the “Find Your Light” annual Gala. The match was made in heaven; a perfect pairing. We introduced the wine and sold a quarter of it, pre-release, in about a minute. Then we stopped the paddles to give the fans a chance to enjoy the wines. This will be launched online in the next few weeks. The wine will be ready for shipping in September.
Our joint wine is a 2014, Halleck Vineyard, Find Your Light, Sonoma Coast, Pinot Noir. Both Josh and I wrote and signed the back label. It’s a Sonoma Coast blend with the finesse and character for which Halleck Vineyard wines are noted. It will be a collector’s wine and raise money for a cause worthy of our hearts. All my sons are artists who benefited from programs in our public schools we helped support.
When I arrived home, we received more good news. You guessed it: awards and accolades. We received 9 more medals from the Los Angeles International Wine Competition and the Sunset Magazine International Wine Competition.
Stay tuned for more fun times ahead with Josh. Join us!
Ross, Jennifer and Adam
