I am seeing more and more wineries stepping up to the plate to volunteer some of their proceeds for charitable acts and I applaud that. It makes me think of the volunteer that I live with, namely my Bride who despite that entire professional vocation she has going on still finds time to volunteer her time and effort. Through her church and assorted organizations, she is a mentor for children looking to better their condition, she visits shut-ins with and helps with counseling in a proscribed method. She lectors and is also an Eucharistic Minister, and just recently she has become part of her parish council; and at times I get worn out just keeping track of all that she does.

What made me think about this is, she was attending a birthday celebration for one of the priests at her church, and no surprise she was also working the party as well. This article could almost have been “guest” written by her, as she relayed all the information of the party. She had also tasted the wines and of course brought one of the empty bottles home to tell me about the wines, even though her priest had suggested that she take a full bottle home for me to try, as I had a prior commitment that evening.

The wines that she was telling me about that she had tasted were a Chardonnay and a Pinot Noir; knowing that I tend to drink both of those type wines often. The wines were produced by 10 Span Vineyards of Livermore, California, and both of the wines were from their 2014 vintage. 10 Span Vineyards offers two collections, one is the Conservancy collection featuring a Chardonnay, a Pinot Gris and a Pinot Noir; while the other collection was their Central Coast Collection that she had that evening, and they offer a Cabernet Sauvignon, a Chardonnay and a Pinot Noir. The fruits that are harvested for the wines come from both the Santa Barbara County and the Monterey County, hence the Central Coast designation. The winemaker John Clark worked prior at Corbett Canyon and at Concannon, as well as a boutique winery that he co-founded with his wife called Brophy-Clark. My Bride enjoyed the wines and 10 Span Vineyards offers a portion of the proceeds to the Ventana Wildlife Society, it their effort to reintroduce the California condor into the wild. I am sure that her volunteering kept her from even realizing that the wine that she was enjoying from that evening also volunteers.