|
Marino Helps Charity Wines Raise Money |
|
Thursday, 21 February 2008 |
Miami Dolphins Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino, in tandem with Charity Wines, has released a wine designed to raise money for children with developmental disabilities.
 The wine is called Vintage 13 (the quarterback's number when he played in the NFL), and comes from Marino Estates. For every bottle sold, $1.25 will be donated to the Dan Marino Foundation to help children afflicted with diseases such as autism and Asperger's syndrome. Marino is simply donating his time and effort, as well as his name, to the production and sale of the wine—he will not profit from its sale.
"Dan is a huge name across the country and autism is a huge issue right now, so [the partnership] made sense," says John Corcoran, the owner of Charity Wines.
Charity Wines raised more than $400,000 through similar means in 2007, selling wines under the names of Boston Red Sox players Manny Ramirez and Curt Schilling, and New Orleans Saints quarterbacks Drew Brees and Bobby Hebert. This year, it hopes to top the $2 million mark in donations.
The wines were released Jan. 28, 2008. They have been doing well, according to Corcoran, and the company has recently ordered another truckload of the wine that is set to arrive in Florida soon.
Three Vintage 13 wines are available, all from California and all from 2005: a cabernet sauvignon, a merlot and a chardonnay. Each retails for $13.
The wines are available at Publix stores in Florida, which, according to Corcoran, is committed to raising $100,000 through sales of the wine. It is also available in many other retail locations across the state, as well as in Marino-owned restaurants in Miami, Orlando and St. Petersburg, Fla., and in Shula's Steakhouses in Florida (named after former Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula).
|
