Vital Wines is powered entirely by volunteers, with 100% of its net profits going towards improving healthcare access for vineyard workers and their families, writes Roger Morris.
Most wineries have some sort of charitable or community programme in place. But one producer in Walla Walla, Washington, is directing 100% of its net income from the sales of its wines to supporting the healthcare of vineyard workers, many of them migrants, along with their families.
For the past nine years,
Vital Wines has done this by soliciting wine donations from a handful of commercial wineries in the area. These wineries make the wines, and Vital then has them bottled and sold through its Walla Walla tasting room and its wine club.
The latest release, the Vital x Valdemar Estates 2024 Rosé (a Sangiovese/Mourvedre blend), was just introduced to the market at US$25 per bottle.
Eye care
Founded in 2016 by Ashley Trout, Vital has now sold more than 3,300 cases of these 'partnership wines' at a net profit of $97,000. So far this year, Vital has visited 10 vineyards and has "validated healthcare needs" of more than 125 vineyard workers. It has provided more than 200 eye exams to workers and family members and donated eye glasses as needed.
"When I was injured at work, Vital helped me by paying three days of wages so I didn’t lose income," says Mariano Diaz, who manages the work force at Yellowhawk Vineyard. in Walla Walla.
"I was able to use the benefits they provide to get my eyes checked and get a pair of glasses as well as contact lenses for my daughter."
By donating the winemaking, Vital "effectively treats these lots as if they were our own estate fruit or wines," Devyani Gupta, head winemaker at Valdemar Estates, explains. "All steps of the winemaking process up to filtration and bottling are under the care of our Valdemar team, in our space, with our own equipment.” Filtration and labelling is carried out separately by a volunteering contractor.
Joint effort
“We have six different Vital labels in our 2025 portfolio,” says Maddie Richards, executive director of Vital. In addition to Valdemar, we have wines made by The Walls, Gramercy, L’Ecole, Balboa, Canvasback, and Walla Walla.” Prices range from $25 to $55 and are sold mainly through the Vital wine club or at its tasting room in downtown Walla Walla.
“Our mission is to use the money from wine sales to help healthcare needs of vineyard workers and their families,” Richards continues. Under the programme Vital conducts a community outreach programme to alert workers of these initiatives. Appointments are then scheduled to evaluate health needs, including eyesight.
"We have recently expanded to Yakima Valley, and our aim is to eventually serve every major wine region of the state,” she says. “During Covid, we began selectively offering a programme to give ill workers up to 10 days of paid leave so that they can get healthy before returning to work."
How do they afford it?
Even with local wineries donating the wines, there are still significant overheads to be covered such as the cost of energy bills in Vital's tasting room, and rental of facilities. So the million dollar question is how does Vital afford to keep running?
According to Richards, almost all production costs - "from fruit to coopers to bottlers" - is donated by the vendors.
Overhead and salaries for its employees are covered by "generous donations and grants" from businesses and individuals, several of which are listed in the Partners section of Vital's website. Income from the tasting room also generates cash, which is ploughed back into the non-profit business model.
All of this ensures that net profits "remains significant", says Richards.
Sustainable labour
Jesús Martínez Bujanda, CEO of Valdemar Family Wines, describes the families supported by Vital as being “an integral part of the Walla Walla community." Without their work, he says, "many of them would not be able to call Walla Walla home."
“Everybody talks about sustainability in this industry, but most people mean sustainability in the growing aspect. We believe it should also be about having sustainable labour in our vineyards with proper access to healthcare.”
There are about 120 wineries located within the Walla Walla Valley AVA and even more in adjacent jurisdiction.
As one vineyard worker who asked not to be identified said, “Mi más apreciable agradecimiento con Vital por las ayudas que me han brindado con mis chequeos médicos y oculistay". Translated, this means: “My deepest gratitude to Vital for the help they've given me with my medical check-ups and eye doctor.”
Check out our deep-dive into Washington, and why the state is the "Wild West" of wines
here.
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