By Kimberly Noelle Charles
Share & Pair Sundays™ brought to you by the team behind Come Over October™, perfectly models the creativity and collaboration within the wine community at a time when it is most needed. From a tiny idea this promotion has grown into an international phenomenon showing that, even after 6,000 years, wine is still the beverage that brings people together. WineAmerica has been a proud supporter from the beginning, and we hope this column inspires many others to become involved. – By Jim Trezise, WineAmerica President
This spring marks the second season of Share & Pair Sundays — nine Sundays, from May 3 through June 28, built around a single enduring idea: that wine is best when it is shared. Whether the occasion is a backyard tailgate, a neighborhood potluck or a schmoozy Sunday supper, the invitation is the same. Gather. Pour. Connect. What matters most is not the format but the company, and the warmth that comes from sitting down together.
The co-founders of Come Together: A Community for Wine—Karen MacNeil, author of The Wine Bible; fellow wine marketer Gino Colangelo; and myself, Kimberly Noelle Charles—conceived of Share & Pair Sundays in 2025, growing directly out of the success of Come Over October. What began as a campaign became a movement: proof that the wine industry, when it speaks with one voice, can shift cultural conversation in a meaningful way.
The numbers tell part of the story. Together, Come Over October and Share & Pair Sundays have generated 2.6 billion media impressions, 1,315 published articles, a journalist reach of 1.29 million, and more than 5.6 million social media impressions across 1,400-plus retail locations. Strategic media partnerships contributed over $150,000 in media value — all amplifying one message: wine is culture, agriculture, connection and history, and it continues to bring people together.
But numbers only go so far. The more compelling story is what happens when businesses within our community take the spirit of Share & Pair Sundays and make it their own. This season, we looked to three very different corners of the wine world — a mountain inn and winery near Yosemite, a wine country tour company in Virginia, and a winery association on Long Island — and found the same truth expressed three different ways.
How Idle Hour built a wine community in a mountain town.
For the team at Idle Hour — an inn, restaurant and winery in Oakhurst, California, the gateway to Yosemite — hospitality has always meant more than a well-poured glass. What drives their work is something deeper: the genuine satisfaction of sharing food and wine, of feeding people well and sending them home happy.
Idle Hour sits in a tourist-driven town, and engaging with visitors is the easy part. The greater challenge — and the more important one — is being a place where locals gather. As they watched their regulars grow more isolated, they launched a monthly Supper Club: three courses, filled by word of mouth, deliberately intimate. Tables are set family-style, guests placed alongside people they may or may not know. The first course is shared. Friendships have followed.
A Blue Zones vegetarian dinner sold out in a mostly carnivorous mountain community, proving that locals were hungry for social connection, not just good food. A book club followed, then game nights and open mic evenings. Taken together, these events have given the community something rarer than a great meal: a place where everyone knows everyone’s name.
How Cork & Keg Tours is turning a day in Virginia wine country into something guests never forget.
Founded in 2016 and reinvigorated under new ownership since 2023, Cork & Keg Tours has built its reputation in Loudoun County, Virginia by doing one thing exceptionally well: removing every obstacle between a group of guests and a genuinely great day in wine country. Their custom Mercedes Sprinter Limo Van carries up to twelve people through celebrated wine and brewery destinations, with itineraries thoughtfully planned — winery partnerships chosen with care, the stories behind each vineyard woven into the journey. Guests arrive, relax and are simply present: to the wines, the landscape, the people beside them. That commitment to seamless, story-driven hospitality has earned Cork & Keg a perfect five-star rating from more than 100 guests on TripAdvisor — and a growing reputation as the kind of guide that turns a tasting day into something guests talk about long after they get home.
How Long Island Wine Country is pairing a sense of place with a seat at the table.
On the North Fork, Long Island Wine Country’s Blanc & Franc Brunch Series — running April through June in collaboration with Share & Pair Sundays — partners Long Island restaurants with regional winemakers for prix-fixe and à la carte Sunday brunches built around two signature grapes: sauvignon blanc and cabernet franc. At The Watershed Kitchen & Bar, Paumanok sauvignon blanc meets goat cheese crostini. At Grace & Grit, Saltbird Cellars rosé flows alongside a menu Chef Adam Kaufer describes as his chance to wrap his “crazy brain” around brunch. The intent is clear: local wine and local food simply belong together — and Long Island cabernet franc is earning a regional identity through the land, the producers and, increasingly, the shared table. A California mountain inn, a Virginia tour company, a Long Island brunch series — three very different businesses, one consistent truth: wine connects people to each other and to the places they love. Visit www.shareandpairsundays.com for free tools, downloadable assets, pairing guides and event tips. The glass is full. The table is set. Come share and pair
Kimberly Noelle Charles, DipWSET, is the president and founder of Charles Communications Associates and a co-founder of COME TOGETHER: A Community for Wine along with Karen MacNeil and Gino Colangelo. For more information about Share & Pair Sundays visit https://shareandpairsundays.com/
