May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and as wellbeing has propelled to the forefront of many industries—the wine world is no different.
The correlation between wine and wellness may appear distant upon first glance, but a growing group of winemakers across the U.S. are showcasing the inherent relationship by advocating for mental health through special releases and year-round programming.
“Mental health struggles are far more common than we acknowledge, yet they remain difficult to talk about,” says Chase Renton, vintner at Oregon’s L’Angolo Estate. The stigma and silence surrounding mental health needs to be broken, which is why L’Angolo Estate just debuted a Pinot Noir dedicated to creating a platform for these often neglected conversations.
Launched on May 1, Resilience is the winery’s new Pinot Noir, of which 100 percent of the wine’s proceeds will benefit the Kevin Love Fund, an organization focused on research, education and changing the narrative around mental health. “My journey with anxiety and depression has been more challenging than my battle with cancer,” says Renton about his motivation to unveil the limited-edition label.
Renton isn’t the only vintner ushering the wellness conversation into the wine industry. Last year, Julia Krankl, winemaker and owner of the Ojai-based Fingers Crossed Wine, published a book on the topic: The 21st Minute: Everything You Wish Doctors Explained about Mental Health.
Krankl, also a psychiatrist, discusses the synergy of mindfulness and attentive wine tasting, noting that “one of the best parts of enjoying wine is slowing down to evaluate and appreciate the wine in your glass.” At a time when the wine industry is under increasing pressure from headlines scrutinizing health concerns, the book helps to identify the unexpected benefits of sipping in moderation. “Wine tasting naturally involves practicing mindfulness,” writes Krankl.
Kevin Love (left) and Chase Renton (right) are both working to increase the conversation around mental health in their respective fields.
Alexandra Martin
Elsewhere, on May 31, Alma Rosa is running its seventh annual fundraising walk to support community services for mental health. Since they launched the event “Peace of Mind: 10,000 Steps in the Right Direction” in 2020, the Santa Rosa Hills-based winery has raised over $1.2 million for Santa Barbara’s Mental Wellness Center and for One Mind, a non-profit supporting neuropsychiatric brain research. For this year’s 4.5-mile hike, Alma Rosa owners, Bob and Barb Zorich, will be matching the first $50,000 to each organization.
Beyond the month of May, more wineries are championing year-round wellbeing efforts. This past March, Joseph Phelps Vineyards hosted Mentis’ Blue Skies Gala of which proceeds were directed toward the organization’s efforts to make mental wellness services affordable and accessible throughout the Napa Valley.
Also in March, Stags’ Leap Winery dedicated the month to celebrating mindfulness by exploring its role in wine tasting. From April Eleven Eleven Wines continues its “We11ness Experience” for the fourth year in a row; hosting weekly experts in the field as guest speakers to cover topics from emotional balance to self-care. In Long Island, Wölffer Estate Vineyard offers yoga sessions in the vines every weekend between Memorial Day to mid-September with select sound bath sessions throughout the season.
Forthcoming, this September, Garen and Shari Staglin of Staglin Family Vineyard will host the 32nd One Mind Music Festival; last year, the one-day event raised $4.1 million to support the nonprofit that the Staglin’s established back in 1995 after their son’s diagnosis with schizophrenia. “What began as a deeply personal journey for my family, has grown into a powerful movement accelerating brain health research and transforming lives,” Shannon Staglin, president of Staglin Family Vineyard previously shared.
As the topic of mental health continues to become less taboo, expect to see more brands aligning with evergreen advocacy. After all, wine isn’t just about what’s in your glass, it’s about the moment surrounding it.
“Wine has always been about connection,” says Renton. In a society of “great isolation,” he continues, a bottle of wine is more than just a beverage—it “can bring friends together, spark a conversation, raise funds and help someone feel less alone.”