Talley Vineyards to release special wine for farmworker charity

By Nick Wilson

Knowing that he was helping people like him, Sergio Camacho was happy to assist in the bottling of a special wine that benefits South County farmworkers and locals in need.

“Helping others is always something very nice,” he said in Spanish, adding that he worked alongside his boss, Brian Talley.

Talley Vineyards’ 2005 Mano Tinta will be released at a fundraiser Saturday. The wine, which means “stained hand” in Spanish, consists of 500 cases of $18-per-bottle syrah and 150 magnum bottles of pinot noir at $150 each.

Proceeds will be donated to the Fund for Vineyard and Farm Workers, an endowment started in 2004 for charities that offer services to farmworkers and locals.

The owners of Arroyo Grande’s Talley Vineyards, Brian and Johnine Talley, set up the fund to show their appreciation for laborers in the family business, which Oliver Talley started in 1948.

“Farmworkers are essential to the agriculture business,” Brian Talley said. “They are the backbone of agriculture.”

Their goal is to contribute $50,000 each year from the endowment interest to local charities. That would mean expanding the fund to $1 million from its current $200,000.

“The benefit to us is that this feels good, and it will help to improve people’s lives,” Johnine Talley said.

It’s an innovative charitable setup because the farmworkers in the winemaking process can benefit from it — even if indirectly, said Janice Wolf of the San Luis Obispo County Community Foundation, which administers the endowment.

“There are a lot of businesses supportive of nonprofit (groups), but the level and strategy of how this one works is very unique,” she said.

Employees have donated their time to help make Mano Tinta and support the fund, the Talleys said.

Recently, interest from the endowment generated $5,000 for the Children’s Health Initiative of San Luis Obispo County and the San Luis Obispo County Literacy Council.

Last year, $4,200 from endowment interest went to the Boys & Girls Club of South San Luis Obispo County and La Clinica de Tolosa, a nonprofit children’s dental clinic.

The Talleys also hope to attract other county wineries and vineyards to grow the fund’s coffers.

This year, Laetitia Vineyard and Winery, Arroyo Grande Winery and Vineyards, and Wolff Vineyards in Edna Valley contributed grapes for the Mano Tinta wine.

“The goal is to attract local money and keep it local,” Brian Talley said.