This article was originally posted on https://californianewswire.com
CALIFORNIA NEWSWIRE (ST. HELENA, Calif.) — Come Together – A Community for Wine Inc., marks two and a half years of building the wine industry’s largest grassroots consumer campaigns. Founded in 2024 by wine writer and author Karen MacNeil, and wine industry marketers Gino Colangelo of Colangelo & Partners, and Kimberly Noelle Charles, DipWSET, of Charles Communications Associates, the organization runs two national campaigns each year: Share & Pair Sundays
in the spring and Come Over October in the fall.
With the second annual Share & Pair Sundays campaign now complete and Come Over October returning this fall for its third year, the founders are reflecting on the organization’s reach to date and looking ahead to the time of year when thoughts turn to gathering and entertaining with friends and family.
SHARE & PAIR SUNDAYS 2026: CAMPAIGN RESULTS
Share & Pair Sundays ran from May 3 through June 28, 2026, encouraging wine lovers to gather with friends and family over Sunday meals. The campaign earned national media coverage and grew its social media presence over the course of the ten-week run. Results included:
* 13,040 winery events during the two-month period according to LocalWineEvents.com
* 983 million plus total media unique visitors (January through June 2026)
* 201 articles published
* Coverage in Yahoo Life, Forbes, Yahoo Finance, Slate, VinePair, Associated Press and Wine Industry Advisor, spanning more than 40 U.S. states
* 100,077 Instagram views and 25,501 accounts reached over 90 days
* 3,024 social media interactions, with 63.5 percent of interactions coming from non-followers
* 11.9 percent growth in social media followers, with an 89 percent follower retention rate
This year our ongoing partner LocalWineEvents.com, publisher of The Juice newsletter, boosted their support and featured Share & Pair Sundays across its editorial, newsletter and homepage placements to an audience of more than 250,000 wine lovers, generating 321,193 newsletter opens and 218,138 homepage banner impressions over the course of the campaign.
Looking at the full two-year arc of the organization’s work from July 2024 through June 2026, Come Together’s campaigns have generated 3.7 billion unique monthly visitors in press coverage, 5.7 million social media impressions, and retail activations in more than 1,400 stores across 43 designated market areas, reaching an estimated 7 million people nationwide.
“Share & Pair Sundays keeps proving that wine lovers want an easy reason to gather,” said Karen MacNeil, co-founder of Come Together, noted writer, and author of The Wine Bible. “Every Sunday table this spring built toward something bigger: a wine culture where sharing a bottle is simply part of a normal week.”
“These numbers reflect real momentum,” said Gino Colangelo, co-founder of Come Together and president of Colangelo & Partners. “Editorial coverage, social growth and retail partners are all moving in the same direction, and that gives us a strong foundation heading into Come Over October this fall.”
WINE INDUSTRY NETWORK WEBINAR
Come Together recently joined the Wine Industry Network for a second webinar spotlighting Come Over October, bringing together Karen MacNeil, Gino Colangelo and Kimberly Noelle Charles with representatives from longtime media sponsor, Wine Enthusiast and Foundational sponsor Jackson Family Wines to discuss how wineries, distributors, retailers, media companies and trade organizations can take part in the fall campaign. The conversation covers practical ways to get involved and the free resources available to participants.
This year the campaign also unveils a glow up, refreshed logo and new collateral. Watch the full webinar here: Come Over October: Wine Industry Unites
WINE’S PLACE AT THE TABLE
The conversation around wine and connection also reached The New York Times this summer. Following chief wine critic Eric Asimov’s June 26 article examining wine’s diminishing presence on restaurant tables, “Have We Forgotten Wine’s Place at the Table?,” Karen MacNeil sat down with Asimov for a video interview exploring the themes of the piece and their relevance to Come Together’s mission for the Wine Voices series put together by the team.
New preliminary data from the International Organization of Vine and Wine underscores the stakes. The United States remains the world’s largest wine consuming nation by volume, at 31.9 million hectoliters in 2025, ahead of France at 22.0 million and Italy at 20.2 million. Even with that lead, per capita consumption and wine’s place at the everyday table continue to face pressure, which is precisely the gap Come Together’s campaigns are built to close.
LOOKING AHEAD: COME OVER OCTOBER, FALL 2026
Come Over October returns this fall for its third year, building on the momentum of all the campaigns to date. The fall campaign invites wineries and retailers to host in-store tastings and tasting room activations, gives media and trade partners a platform to amplify the message that wine belongs to everyday moments, and offers a campaign patron opportunity for organizations ready to help make this year’s activation the most far reaching yet. The logo for this third iteration of Come Over October has had a glow up visible in all communications and collateral.
“Our beloved industry has had one of the most challenging times in decades,” said Kimberly Noelle Charles, DipWSET, co-founder of Come Together. “Collaborative, positive voices lifting up wine and its unique place in culture prove that we are resonating with the way people truly feel. The support we receive, be it monetary or in allyship, helps our momentum continue.”
Learn more at https://comeoveroctober.com/
ABOUT COME TOGETHER, A COMMUNITY FOR WINE INC.
COME TOGETHER, A Community for Wine Inc. is the mission driven company behind the Come Over October and Share & Pair Sundays wine advocacy campaigns. Founded in 2024 by wine writer and author Karen MacNeil, Gino Colangelo of Colangelo & Partners, and Kimberly Noelle Charles, DipWSET, of Charles Communications Associates, the company tells the story of wine’s historic and contemporary role as a beverage that brings people together.
* * *
This version of news first appeared on CaliforniaNewswire.com © 2026 – all rights reserved.
Originally published on CaliforniaNewswire.com — Come Over October returning this fall: Come Together – A Community for Wine marks 2.5 Years of Reconnecting America to Wine