Wine Event to Benefit Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, Must Charities, Autism Speaks

PALO ALTO, Calif. - June 17, 2014 - PRLog -- The Good Wine Project, an initiative of Palo Alto-based Elevate Partners, today announced its inaugural wine tasting event for charity, Raise a Glass for Good, to be held Thursday, July 31, 2014 from 4 - 7 p.m. at MacArthur Park Restaurant, a historic landmark building in Palo Alto, CA. Held in conjunction with the Paso Robles Chamber of Commerce and the Wine Alliance of Paso Robles, the event will feature wines from nearly a dozen Paso Robles wineries, as well as presentations by Certified Sommelier Fred Swan (www.NorCalWine.com) titled, “A Delicious Dive into Paso Robles Wine Country” and “Learn to Blind Taste Like a Sommelier”. Event attendees will be treated to food samplings from MacArthur Park’s kitchen, music and art from local artisans, and will receive a complimentary gift bag filled with products and vouchers from local businesses. In addition, wine buyers from several Bay Area-based grocery markets and restaurants will be in attendance and looking to bring more Paso Robles wine offerings to local retail locations. The event is open to the public and all Bay Area wine enthusiasts interested in learning more about the Paso Robles wine region are encouraged to attend. Event tickets are available at www.goodwineproject.org and are being sold on a first come/first serve basis.

“The mission behind The Good Wine Project is to organize events which help raise the profile of lesser known wine regions outside of Napa Valley while also providing a platform to bring awareness and support for regionally supported charitable causes,” said Chris Donahue, Elevate Partners | Good Wine Project co-founder. “Paso Robles is less than a 3-hour drive from the Bay Area and boasts nearly 300 beautiful wineries producing award winning wines. We’re excited to be able to bring a few of these to the Bay Area while raising money for three very worthy charities, and greatly appreciate the local community’s support of this first Raise a Glass for Good event.”

Representatives from a dozen Paso Robles wineries will be on had to pour their most popular varietals. Some of the featured wineries include, Robert Hall Winery (www.roberthallwinery.com), Ranchita Canyon Vineyard (www.ranchitacanyonvineyard.com), August Ridge Vineyard (www.augustridge.com), and Caliza (www.calizawinery.com). Proceeds from the event will benefit the Children’s Fund at the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, Must! Charities in San Luis Obispo County, and the Autism Speaks organization.

About Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford


Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford is the heart of Stanford Children’s Health, and is one of the nation’s top hospitals for the care of children and expectant mothers. We are the only children’s hospital in Northern California with three specialty programs ranked in the U.S. News & World Report (http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/pediatric-rankings) Top 10 for 2014-15, and the only hospital in Northern California to receive the national 2013 Leapfrog Group Top Children’s Hospital award (http://www.stanfordchildrens.org/en/about/news/releases/2013/leapfrog-top-childrens-hospital-award-2013) for quality and patient care safety. As a non-profit, we are committed to supporting our community – from caring for uninsured or underinsured kids, homeless teens and pregnant moms, to helping re-establish school nurse positions in local schools. Learn more about our full range of preeminent programs and network of care at stanfordchildrens.org (http://www.stanfordchildrens.org/), and on our Healthier, Happy Lives blog (http://healthier.stanfordchildrens.org/). Join us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/stanfordchildrens), Twitter (https://twitter.com/StanfordChild), LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com/company/lucile-packard-children%27s-hospital), and YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/user/StanfordChildrens).

About Must! Charities

Must! Charities is dedicated to improving the quality of life in San Luis Obispo’s North County by offering hope, compassion, and resources to those in need. For more information, visit www.mustcharities.org.

About Autism Speaks

Autism Speaks is the world’s leading autism science and advocacy organization. It is dedicated to funding research into the causes, prevention, treatments and a cure for autism; increasing awareness of autism spectrum disorders; and advocating for the needs of individuals with autism and their families. Autism Speaks was founded in February 2005 by Suzanne and Bob Wright, the grandparents of a child with autism. Mr. Wright is the former vice chairman of General Electric and chief executive officer of NBC and NBC Universal. Since its inception, Autism Speaks has committed more than $500 million dollars to its mission, the majority in science and medical research. Each year Walk Now for Autism Speaks events are held in more than 100 cities across North America. On the global front, Autism Speaks has established partnerships in more than 40 countries on five continents to foster international research, services and awareness. To learn more about Autism Speaks, please visit www.AutismSpeaks.org.

About Fred Swan


Fred is passionate about connecting people to the wines and wineries of Northern California. He is Director of Education for Affairs of the Vine (http://affairsofthevine.com/), a premier wine edutainment company, and an instructor for both San Francisco Wine School (http://sanfranciscowineschool.com/) and Grape Experience (http://www.grapeexperience.com/%E2%80%8E). He is the primary content provider for NorCalWine.com and writes regularly for Snooth.com (http://www.snooth.com/) and the San Francisco Wine School blog. Fred's accreditations include Certified Sommelier, a Diploma from the Wine & Spirits Education Trust (WSET), and certified California Wine Appellation Specialist (http://sanfranciscowineschool.com/california-wine-appellation-specialist-program) (CWAS). He graduated from the Napa Valley Vintners' Wine Educator Academy and has studied wine at the Culiniary Institute of America in St. Helena. In 2009, Fred was inducted into the Echansonnerie des Papes, the honorary organization of the Chateauneuf-du-Pape wine region. He has also been honored with a fellowship by The Symposium for Professional Wine Writers.

About MacArthur Park Restaurant

Named after a Jimmy Webb song, MacArthur Park, is a historical landmark building having formerly served as a 1918 Hostess House for visiting families of World War I servicemen, as a community center, a veterans hall, and later renovated into the Julia Morgan building in operation today. Contact:27 University Avenue, Palo Alto, CA www.macarthurparkpaloalto.com.

About Elevate Partners | The Good Wine Project

Elevate Partners is a boutique marketing firm offering innovative strategy, branding, communication, and business development services to client partners worldwide. The company helps brands, people, and ideas shine, and aligns with companies and causes which value marketing as a way to create positive impact. Launched in 2014, the Good Wine Project initiative is a charity-based series of wine tasting events organized by Elevate Partners to raise awareness of regional wineries committed to quality wine and giving back. All events are hosted in conjunction with the featured region’s Chamber of Commerce and/or Wine Alliance, with a percentage of all funds raised going to support local charitable causes. Elevate Partners is based in Palo Alto, CA. For more information, www.elevatepartners.net and www.goodwineproject.org.