The Juice® Voices

The Founders of COME TOGETHER

By early 2024, the idea for COME TOGETHER—A Community for Wine began to take shape as Karen MacNeil, Gino Colangelo, and Kimberly Noelle Charles, DipWSET each recognized the same growing concern from their respective corners of the wine industry: wine’s role in culture, community, and human connection was quietly disappearing from the broader public conversation.

For decades, all three had dedicated their professional lives to telling the story of wine. Not simply as a product, but as a cultural artifact; one tied to agriculture, history, hospitality, family, friendship, and the table itself. They had spent their careers championing the people and places behind wine and helping consumers understand why it mattered.

Karen MacNeil had done so through education and storytelling. Widely considered one of the most influential wine communicators in America, she is the author of The Wine Bible, one of the bestselling wine books ever published, with more than a million copies sold worldwide. Through her writing, teaching, television work, and speaking engagements, MacNeil helped generations of consumers see wine not as something exclusive or intimidating, but as something profoundly human: a beverage that belongs at the center of connection and conviviality.

Kimberly Noelle Charles brought a different but equally important perspective. A pioneer in wine branding and communications, Charles built a career helping wineries and wine regions communicate with authenticity, emotional intelligence, and cultural relevance. Through her firm, Charles Communications Associates, she became known not only for strategic marketing expertise, but for championing community, mentorship, and corporate social responsibility within the wine industry. Her work consistently emphasized wine as part of a larger cultural and social fabric — something rooted in people and shared experience.

Gino Colangelo brought yet another lens. As the founder of Colangelo & Partners, one of the leading wine communications agencies in the United States, he had spent decades working alongside some of the most respected wine regions and producers in the world. His background in both global communications and retail gave him a rare understanding of how consumers connect with wine in real life — at restaurants, around dinner tables, in wine shops, and in moments of celebration. Over time, he saw firsthand how disconnected the broader public conversation had become from wine’s actual role in people’s lives.

Though their careers had long intersected, the three founders found themselves increasingly aligned around a growing concern. Public discourse around alcohol had become overwhelmingly binary and often stripped of nuance. Wine, in particular, was frequently being removed from its historical and cultural context. Lost in the conversation was the idea that wine, enjoyed in moderation, has long played a meaningful role in bringing people together.

At the same time, broader societal trends only reinforced what they believed to be true. Loneliness and disconnection were rising. Shared meals were happening less frequently. Screens increasingly replaced face-to-face interaction. The simple act of gathering — of sitting around a table, opening a bottle of wine, sharing food, conversation, and time — suddenly felt more important than ever.

Rather than respond defensively, MacNeil, Colangelo, and Charles believed the better path forward was a positive one.

They envisioned an organization that would remind people of wine’s enduring place in culture and community. Not through debate or division, but through invitation. A platform that would encourage people to gather again. To reconnect. To share meals, stories, traditions, and hospitality. In many ways, they believed wine could once again serve as a catalyst for human connection.

And so, in May 2024, COME TOGETHER—A Community for Wine was formed as a mission-driven company – a labor of passion and belief. All three founders continued to run their own independent businesses while donating their time, expertise, relationships, and energy to building the initiative. Their goal was simple but ambitious: to create gathering moments for wine lovers and for the wine industry itself.

What emerged was less a campaign than a movement.

Through initiatives like Come Over October™ and Share & Pair Sundays™, COME TOGETHER began encouraging consumers to embrace wine’s role as a connector. The message resonated quickly because it was fundamentally simple and deeply familiar: wine has always been at its best when shared.

At its core, COME TOGETHER is rooted in optimism. It is a belief that wine still matters. That gathering still matters. That culture, hospitality, and human connection still matter. And that in a world increasingly defined by isolation and distraction, there remains something powerful about sitting down together, pouring a glass of wine, and making time for one another.

https://www.cometogetherforwine.com/
https://www.instagram.com/comeoveroctober/
https://www.facebook.com/p/Come-Over-October-61562095820153/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/come-together-for-wine/about/