Come Over October 2025

In the October 2024 issue of Polo Lifestyles, I introduced readers to what was then a new campaign called Come Over October.

Launched as an effort to dispel the gloom around so much in the contemporary wine industry, three seasoned veterans of the wine world came together to launch the endeavor and celebrate the role that wine has had for many millennia in bringing people together. “Come Over October celebrates the togetherness, the history, and the stories that go beyond what’s in the glass,” relays the campaign’s website.

We ought not be pollyannaish – the headwinds challenging the wine industry remain stubbornly persistent. Global wine consumption slumped to a 60-year low in 2024 as consumer tastes and preferences continue to shift and a multitude of studies muddy the waters about the health effects of even low alcohol consumption. In the United States, the world’s largest wine market, trade wars and inconsistent tariff policies have created further instability in an already shaken industry. Importers and exporters are left adrift in the tumult. Tariffs have also driven up the cost of goods central to wine making, such as glass from Mexico for bottling, wood from France for barrels, and cork from Portugal.

The decline in consumption has resulted in an overly saturated market drowning in excess wine. I’ve interviewed several winemakers who are not making certain wines this year because they have so much excess inventory of these wines from prior years. Others have shared that they are simply not harvesting their grapes and growers are seeing prices plummet for even the best of fruit.

The current situation is not at the scale of disasters like phylloxera or Prohibition, but it is severe and a leaner, scaled-down industry is almost certain to be observed in its wake.

However, we wine lovers are not left powerless. Describing the problem is one thing. Seeking solutions is another, and this is where Come Over October comes into play. The campaign encourages us to abandon our distracting devices for an evening and “invite friends, family and colleagues to ‘come over’ during the month of October. Focusing on sharing wine, celebrate friendship, and in-person connection.”

The first year of the campaign was incredibly well received. It’s three founders – Karen MacNeil, Kimberly Noell Charles, and Gino Colangelo – have collectively been nominated for Wine Enthusiast’s Wine Star Award of Person of the Year for 2025. The campaign’s website (www.comeoveroctober.com) has a treasure trove of information and supportive materials that are sure to enhance your own gathering this month. I especially like the “Tools and Tips” area that provides examples of creating themes for getting together and has ideas for those involved in the wine business on how to do activations for the month.

I, myself, am just coming off two weeks of divine wine and food celebrations, having attended the Sonoma County Wine Celebration (thank you Sonoma County Vintners) and then the Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta in my hometown and on whose Board of Directors I am grateful to serve. These events and thousands more like them across the United States and the world, create a context for us to not just celebrate wine, but to recognize, as the oldest philosophers had, that we are social beings at our core and gatherings – whether large or small – create meaning, memories, and momentum that define our short journey in time.

As always, Salud!