Wine Group Launches Share & Pair Sundays

A wine advocacy group on Thursday announced the second year of Share & Pair Sundays, a nine-week campaign that encourages people to gather over wine and food at home, in restaurants and at community events as the spring entertaining season begins.

The campaign, led by Come Together — A Community for Wine, runs from May 3 through June 28 and is timed to include Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and the unofficial start of summer. Organizers said the effort is meant to promote wine as part of a simple social ritual at a time when loneliness and isolation have become a public health concern.

Karen MacNeil, the wine writer and author of “The Wine Bible,” said the campaign builds on what she described as strong interest from consumers looking for connection. “Last year proved that American wine drinkers are hungry for connection and for the kind of sharing that wine encourages,” she said in a statement. “This year we’re building on that yearning.”

The campaign’s backers said they are trying to make participation easy and flexible, with recipes, pairing ideas and hosting tools aimed at removing friction from entertaining. The idea is to encourage people across generations — including Gen Z, millennials, Gen X and boomers — to use Sunday as a regular time to gather.

Kimberly Noelle Charles, another co-founder of Come Together, said the campaign is intended to fit different settings, from a dinner at home to a night out or even standing around a kitchen counter with friends. She said the goal is not to prescribe what connection should look like but to remind people that it can be built around a meal and a bottle of wine.

The group cited public health data in framing the campaign. The U.S. surgeon general has said roughly half of American adults report loneliness, while the World Health Organization has estimated that about 16% of people worldwide experience loneliness. Organizers said they see wine as part of a long tradition of shared meals and social rituals.

Come Together said its earlier campaigns, including Come Over October and Share & Pair Sundays, have generated 2.6 billion media impressions, 1,315 published articles and activations in more than 1,400 retail locations. The group also said those efforts have received more than $150,000 in donated media value from wine publications.

This year’s campaign already includes local events in several regions. Among them are a monthly supper club at Idle Hour, an inn, restaurant and winery near Yosemite in Oakhurst, California; Sunday wine tours through Loudoun County, Virginia, run by Cork & Keg Tours; and a Blanc & Franc brunch series on Long Island pairing North Fork wines with menus from regional chefs.

Gino Colangelo, another co-founder of Come Together, said the campaign’s aim for 2026 is to increase consumer reach by 50% while expanding retail, restaurant and international participation. He said the format could be anything from a backyard tailgate to a neighborhood potluck or Sunday supper.

Foundational partners include Jackson Family Wines and Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits. Benefactor partners include WineAmerica and Local Wine Events. Lyft, RedChirp and Yelp are listed as preferred partners, and media sponsors include Wine Enthusiast, Tasting Panel, Somm Journal, Wine Folly, VinePair, Wine Industry Network and Wine Business Monthly.

Free downloadable materials are available at shareandpairsundays.com.