Events

Whats New with Entrepreneur Wines

In April 2018, we held a very successful combined Entrepreneur Wines release event with a Gratitude “thank you” event for all of our Ambassadors and Corporate backers.   The event was held at the Candy Store, a unique auto museum in San Mateo.  Our club members mixed it up while viewing million dollar antique automobiles and drinking our new 2016 Baciagalupi Chardonnay!

We had several Gratitude speakers that day, including Olenka Villarreal, CEO of Magical Bridge, and Sergio Medina, CEO of RISE.  Both speakers talked about the work their organizations are doing to help handicapped or underprivileged children here in the US and abroad.

On September 29th, 2019, we held our annual Entrepreneur Wines Napa event at our production facility, ElevenEleven, in the city of Napa.  We released our latest 2017 Dutton Ranch Pinot Noir, which was a hit, and invited members to dip into the “vault” by pouring our very first cabernet – now nearly 10 years in the bottle – our 2019 Mt. Veeder Cabernet.

Our wine maker, Kirk Venge took visitors out into the ElevenEleven vineyards where we had the opportunity to taste and compare several varietals off the vines.  Kirk spoke about what goes into a traditional Bordeaux blend and discussed his strategies for deciding on optimal timing for harvest.

Also joining us this afternoon was Annie Marggraff, one of our Gratitude Fellows (alumni from 2018) who spoke about how her non-profit StepAhead has been scaling up since receiving assistance from the Gratitude program.  Gratitude long-time friend and now-Board member, Dave Stiehr spoke about why he loves being part of both Entrepreneur Wines and Gratitude Network and a bit about the leverage effect Gratitude gets when it works with leaders around the world.

Here are a few of the photos from that day!

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This year, Entrepreneur Wines and The Gratitude Network co-produced a new event, attracting over 100 Wine Club members, Gratitude Ambassadors and friends and colleagues.  The event was held in Orinda at the beautiful home of Christina and Tom McCormick.  What a day!

Entrepreneur Wine club members were treated to a VIP tasting and release of our 2016 Oakville Cabernet, during the hour prior to “Gourmet, Grapes & Gratitude”.

They were then treated to:

  • tasty bites from five local high-end restaurants and patisseries,
  • wine from Entrepreneur Wines and four high-end wineries,
  • eight visiting Gratitude “2019 Fellows” (inductees Gratitude’s 2019 program),
  • Comments from Board members,
  • A drawing for 2 Warriors FINAL seats in a VIP Executive Box.

Early in the day, rain and wind threatened this event, but at the start time the sun was up and everyone had a wonderful day!

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The Gratitude Network held it’s first-ever “Soiree” on November 6, 2016 at the Sofitel Hotel in Redwood City, CA…and Entrepreneur Wines was there to help with th celebration!  325 guests enjoyed a grand reception, entered the Grand Ballroom to the music of Cantabile Women’s Choir, and then heard from several great speakers, enjoyed a wonderful dinner, participated in a live auction and honored social entrepreneurs around the world.

Speakers included Lauren Bush Lauren (Founder of The FEED Projects), Christian Okoye (star running back for the Kansas City Chiefs), Guy Kawasaki (early Apple Evangelist,entrepreneur and prolific blogger),  Alejandro Gac-Artigas (Founder, Springboard Collaborative),  and Tanyella Evans (Co-Founder of Library for All).

Best comment of the night:  “Given the details of the event, it’s hard to believe this event is the FIRST time Gratitude Network has thrown one of these!

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“Collectors take note – not only are these exceptional wines but also equally as intriguing are the networking and social opportunities membership affords.” ( Check out the detailed review!)

The Gratitude Network held it’s first-ever “Soiree” on November 6, 2016 at the Sofitel Hotel in Redwood City, CA…and Entrepreneur Wines was there to help with th celebration!  325 guests enjoyed a grand reception, entered the Grand Ballroom to the music of Cantabile Women’s Choir, and then heard from several great speakers, enjoyed a wonderful dinner, participated in a live auction and honored social entrepreneurs around the world.

Speakers included Lauren Bush Lauren (Founder of The FEED Projects), Christian Okoye (star running back for the Kansas City Chiefs), Guy Kawasaki (early Apple Evangelist,entrepreneur and prolific blogger),  Alejandro Gac-Artigas (Founder, Springboard Collaborative),  and Tanyella Evans (Co-Founder of Library for All).

Best comment of the night:  “Given the details of the event, it’s hard to believe this event is the FIRST time Gratitude Network has thrown one of these!

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Nearly 70 Wine Club members and their guests joined us for our 2017 Barrel Tasting event at our production facility at ElevenEleven, off Trancas Road in Napa city.  This year, ElevenEleven opened up a new (much larger) facility, complete with spacious barrel tasting area, tasting rooms, and an outdoor deck in the back facing north into the Napa Valley mountain ranges – just beautiful!

The event featured guest speaker, Laura Traxler, Managing Director of the Gratitude Network who gave an update on progress that has been made this past year thanks to the generous donations of wine club members.   Kirk Venge, our rock-star wine maker, was also on hand to

Additional highlights of the event:  live demonstration of the Entrepreneur Wines “Twist”, a much needed dance movement that allows you to get the wax off our bottles with ease!

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Patty and Randy Haykin had a wonderful time hosting Entrepreneur Wines members at their home for a Fall Release Party on October 16, 2016.  The event featured the release of Entrepreneur Wines’ first-ever Dutton Ranch Pinot Noir, as well as a scrumptious 2013 Stagecoach Cabernet Sauvignon.

Guests had to put their “Game Faces” on.  After an update in the foyer are, we split up into two groups – we challenged Club Members and guests to determine which photos were taken from our Dutton Ranch, Sonoma vineyard of our pinot noir vineyard, and which were taken from out Stagecoach Atlas Peak vineyard.  Guests also had to guess what flavors were associated with each wine, and what grape type was associated with each wine they were tasting.  We all gathered in the kitchen at the end of the day to exchange “results” and figure out which team did the best job of matching sight, smell and taste to the newly-released wines.

Despite the rain outside, everyone had a great time and there were ample opportunities for couples to meet one another.  And, we welcomed 4 new Entrepreneur Wines Club members from this event!

Sixty Entrepreneur Wines members and their guests joined us for a great time at our Napa production facility, 1111 Winery in Napa.  Kirk Venge, our Winemaker, led a barrel tasting of the 2015 Chardonnay, 2015 Dutton Ranch Pinot Noir and our 2014 Stagecoach Cabernet.  Randy and Patty spoke about Entrepreneur Wines philanthropic nature and highlighted some new directions for the winery and its sister organization, The Gratitude Network.

A highlight of the afternoon were short presentations by two of the Gratitude Network “strategic coaches” (Karla Nelson and Kelli Richards) a short presentation by Alejandro Gac-Artigas, Founder and CEO of The Springboard Collaborative, a 2015 Gratitude Award winner.  Alejandro’s organization provides an innovative after-school program in the US for inner city children which better integrates the families of these children into their education.  Alejandro’s company is exactly the type of company that the Gratitude Network will be supporting in the years ahead through it’s Children and Education focus.

We were blessed with 6 new Entrepreneur Wines Club members from this event!

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The Sacramento Area provided a warm welcome to Entrepreneur Wines and 25 attended a gathering at the home of Kevin Hamm in Loomis.  Twenty five friends were on hand to taste our 2012 Diamond Mountain Cabernet and hear about the Gratitude Network and companies we’ve supported.  A special thanks to Kevin Hamm, Mike Silcox and Karla Nelson for setting this up!