2009 Vintner’s Grant Recipient Emily Miner

Ten years ago when Julie and Andrew Constantin asked Emily Miner of Miner Family Vineyards to donate a bottle of wine to a modest fundraiser called the Wine Celebration, little did she know then that 10 years later this would be the very preeminent organization that would help in her fight against cancer. Emily, a 39 year old mother of two who was diagnosed with Stage 4 Lung Cancer, was joined by her family and friends on Saturday, August 8 at Nickel & Nickel, as she acknowledged the Vintners Grant which will be directed to lung cancer research. As Bob Lloyd, Coach K and Julie Constantin joined her on stage, a previously unviewed video outtake of Emily was revealed during which Emily expressed how touched she was that the community made her feel like a hero—and then confessed that some days she didn’t feel like a hero at all and wished she had a cape to help her pretend to be one.

To the V Foundation Emily is a hero. In that spirit Emily was presented with a V Foundation hero’s cape that has been signed by the guests of the Wine Celebration event, during a standing ovation where guests were moved to tears. 

In a touching, heartfelt moment, Emily spoke to the guests and expressed gratitude for their support of lung cancer research in her honor. As a tribute, guests donated over $700,000 to the Fund-A-Need during the auction. The grant will be made in Emily’s name, who was recently featured as the “New Face of Cancer” in Women’s Health magazine.

2008 Vintner's Grant

Nickel & Nickel and Far Niente

The 2008 Vintner’s Grant was awarded to the team at Nickel & Nickel and Far Niente wineries, who has designated thyroid cancer for their grant, in honor of Far Niente winemaker Stephanie Putnam.  Nickel & Nickel and Far Niente have been instrumental to the success of the V Wine Celebration with their generous and constant support.

2007 Vintner’s Grant

Robin Lail of Lail Vineyards was our 2007 Vintner’s Grant recipient. Robin is a breast cancer survivor and has been a long-time supporter of The Foundation’s mission.  In her name, The V Foundation will grant $100,000 to Ju-Seog Lee, PhD, at the University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, in Houston.

2006 Vintner’s Grant

In 2006, The V Wine Celebration was pleased to honor longtime supporters Chuck and Anne McMinn of Vineyard 29.  Wanting to make the “biggest difference” with their grant, Chuck and Anne chose to fund a V Scholar for two years.  Their grant funded Konrad Hochedlinger, Ph.D., at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center.

 2005 Vintner’s Grant

In 2005, The V Wine Celebration was pleased to honor Todd Zapolski and Leslie Rudd of Girard Winery and Rudd Vineyards & Winery respectively.  Todd and Leslie have been longtime supporters of the V Wine Celebration and have designated lung cancer as the area of research for funding which was awarded to Dr. Alan Fields, Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, Jacksonville, Florida.

2004 Vintner’s Grant

Garen and Shari Staglin of Staglin Family Vineyard were honored as the recipients of the 2004 Vintner’s Grant.  The Staglins designated leukemia, in memory of his father, Pasquale Stagliano, for the $100,000 grant which was awarded to Ianna Aifantis, Ph.D. at The University of Chicago Cancer Research Center.

2003 Vintner’s Grant

The V Wine Celebration honored Mark Beringer of Duckhorn Vineyards as the recipient of the 2003 Vintner’s Grant.  Marc earmarked the $50,000 in funding for Sarcoma research at the University Of California Davis (UCD) led by Dr. Cheryl London.

2002 Vintner’s Grant

The 2002 Vintner’s Grant honoree was Mitch Cosentino of Cosentino Winery in Yountville. The Cosentino Vintner's Grant funded melanoma related research led by Dr. Lynne Bemis at the University of Colorado Health and Sciences Center in honor of Mitch's mother, Arlene.

2001 Vintner’s Grant

The 2001 Annual Vintner’s Grant of $100,000 was awarded to the UCSF Medical Center to fund pancreatic cancer research in honor of Joan Rombauer of Rombauer Vineyards, who was undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer.  The Rombauer family, who directly influenced the focus of the research, generously matched the V Foundation grant dollar for dollar, increasing the total donation to $200,000.  A second 2001 Vintner’s Grant was awarded to Kathy Matthay, M.D. in the field of Neuroblastoma Research in honor of Dick Grace of Grace Family Vineyards, who has been a major contributor and supporter of the V Foundation Wine Celebration since its inception.   

2000 Vintner’s Grant

In 2000, the Wine Celebration dedicated its first Vintner's Grant to the memory of Rennick Andrew Harris. Funds benefited the respected research of Dr. Carolyn Coker Ross, M.D., MPH, Associate Professor of Family and Preventative Medicine at the University of California, San Diego.  Her research investigates new, integrative approaches to reducing the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation therapy in cancer patients.

  Rennick Andrew Harris