For almost ten years Lieb Cellars has produced wines to support their favorite charities and for the last several years they have produced wines to benefit different September 11th charities, like the September Mission Merlot. These wines are produced in small batches of around 200 to 250 cases, and a significant portion of the sale goes directly to benefit the charity in question.
Lieb Cellars is a local Long Island North Fork winery and the winemakers decided to create some special edition wines specifically to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and benefit 9/11 charities. The winemakers state that the motivation for these commemorative wines is the loss of friends and colleagues in the attacks.
In 2004 the winemakers were approached by Monica Iken, a September 11th widow and founder of the September Mission. Monica created the foundation with the goal of “building a positive and meaningful legacy out of the events surrounding 9/11″ soon after these events and the foundation is going strong almost 10 years later.
Lieb Cellars has been producing wines in collaboration with Monica for the September Mission for seven years now and as an off shoot of this collaboration, this year Lieb Cellars is releasing a special Merlot to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks and the opening of the new memorial. For every bottle of the 9/11 Memorial Commemorative Merlot, Lieb Cellars will be making a donation to the 9/11 memorial. In addition to the charitable benefits of purchase, Lieb Cellars promises that this wine is distinct as being “one of the greatest vintages ever produced by Lieb Cellars.” Only 251 cases are being released at $19.11 per bottle.
In addition to the 10th anniversary merlot, Lieb currently has a 2008 Merlot that benefits the September Mission’s “9/11 Campaign.” This program “provides educational and cultural programs to remember the victims of 9/11.” Lieb Cellars dedicated this merlot to “honoring the memory of those lost on September 11th, 2001.” They produced 205 cases of this wine and list it for $9.11 per bottle. Ten percent of the purchase price goes directly to supporting September Mission.
If you prefer white wines or are not so much into the Merlots, Lieb Cellars also released a Chardonnay along with the Merlot this year to commemorate the 10th anniversary of September 11th and the memorial. The 9/11 Memorial Commemorative Chardonnay runs for $19.11. It is the 2010 vintage and there were only 247 cases made.