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October 13, 2011

Pitt wines to debut this weekend

Cabernet-LabelAdd red and white to the blue and gold that will abound on campus this weekend.

Guests at tomorrow evening’s Pitt Alumni Association homecoming reception will be among the first to taste the new Panther Cellars cabernet and chardonnay.

John Racioppi, president of the San Francisco Bay Area Pitt Club, said the idea of developing a Pitt wine label emerged about a year ago as club directors were brainstorming — over some wine — about ways to boost their scholarship fundraising through projects that would yield more continuous revenue than individual fundraising events.

“We haven’t bought a winery,” he said, but the University has trademarked the Panther Cellars name and the club is partnering with Mendocino County vintner Brutocao Cellars to produce the wines.

The wine will be available for sale once ordering and distribution details are finalized, but Racioppi views the homecoming reception as the ideal venue for the wines’ premiere.

“We didn’t want to miss an opportunity for people to actually taste the wine,” he said. “Homecoming is only once a year and it’s a time when so many alumni from all over are in Pittsburgh.”

Those interested in ordering will be able to sign up at the reception to receive an alert when the wine is available for sale.

For now, only Racioppi has tasted the wine — a 2009 cabernet and a 2010 chardonnay. Based on his sampling from the barrels, “It’s very good wine,” he attests.

The wines will be added to the menu at the University Club and may be available at Pitt events, but the Panther Cellars label won’t be found on state store shelves, he said. A web page for ordering will be set up at www.panthercellars.com, Racioppi said. As of press time Wednesday the site had not yet gone live.

The cabernet will sell for about $28 and the chardonnay will carry a price tag of around $18, with about half of the selling price benefiting scholarship funds. In Pennsylvania, the prices are likely to be higher, to maintain the same level of benefit to the scholarship fund while accounting for state taxes and markups associated with a more complicated shipment program, he explained.

The club is estimating first-year sales of 50 cases of each variety, which would yield $15,000 for the scholarship program.

“All the clubs are going to benefit, not just San Francisco,” he said. Details of exactly how the proceeds will be divided still are being worked out between the Alumni Association and the University.

Racioppi, a software development company owner who earned a degree in economics and an MBA at Pitt, is confident in the Panther Cellars label’s potential for growth. A similar Stanford University alumni program that has been in operation for several decades sells more than 1,200 cases per year, he said.

Panther Cellars is starting with two of the most popular varietals, but Racioppi said he hopes the list will expand. He envisions adding other whites, and  a petite — make that PITT-ite — sirah.

—Kimberly K. Barlow

Filed under: Feature,Volume 44 Issue 4

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