One thing is clear, we will be enjoying several Humanitas wines.  Every wine will be cracked open, sniffed, tasted, paired, discussed, and drained…into our mouths, of course.  Will the Pinot Noir standup to the political jousting between the brothers?  How will the Cabernet taste during the croquet challenge?  And no doubt, we will have several other selections representing as many wine regions as possible.  A good time will be had by all…guaranteed.

And the message?  Well — there are a couple. 

Quantity:  it is critical to consider the quantity.  In college we developed a hypothesis that bordered on law:  If a little is good, more is better.  This seemed to apply to everything.  More = Better.  M=B.  When you think you have enough wine, get some more…it will never go to waste.

Quality:  know your audience and supply accordingly.  If they aren’t into wine — don’t bring plonk!  Use this as an opportunity to turn them on to some mind blowing wine that will convert them.  And if they don’t immediately ‘get it’ – remember from above — More = Better. 

And do me a favor — during this celebration of bounty, please try to remember the two words ‘thanks’ and ‘giving’.  More than likely, if you are reading this, you have a lot for which to be thankful.  Let the people you love know it — tell them.  And raise a glass together, smile, and appreciate your life.  As they say, it is far better than the alternative.  As for ‘giving’ — take this opportunity to help someone else.  Donate food to your local Food Bank or clothes to a shelter.  Give an anonymous gift to Toys for Tots.  Send a letter to a one of our soldiers serving overseas.  And smile — always smile.

The San Francisco Food Bank is one of my favorite charities.  The work they do is beyond belief and during the period between Thanksgiving and the New Year is when they need your help the most.  At Humanitas, we hope you to have a fantastic Thanksgiving and Holiday season.  And if you are interested in helping the SF Food Bank AND enjoy a nice bottle (or two…or more — remember M=B) — if you enter the promo code FBSF while checking out at the Humanitas on-line store, we’ll donate 20% of your purchase to the San Francisco Food Bank. 

Good wines that do good.  This is what Humanitas is all about – and what we mean when we say ‘drink charitably!’  And please, drop me a comment & let me know what you are thankful for this year, what wine you are enjoying this Thanksgiving and what you are doing to help others.  Thanks!

As an example, this Friday night at 8 PM EST (5 PM PST), Humanitas is the focus of Twitter Taste Live.  You may ask, “What exactly is a twitter tasting?”  Well – thanks to the great work of Craig Drollett (owner of BinEnds in Massachusetts and founder of TTL) along with bloggers extraordinaire Tim Elliott and Lenn Thompson, this will be a simultaneous on-line tasting of four Humanitas wines by twenty or so bloggers around the country who will be discussing the wines ‘live’ on Twitter as they taste & comment on the wines. 

This is incredible as the vehicle of Twitter also allows everyone to follow along, or even join in the fun to taste, comment, ask questions…whatever.  And it is incredibly open & honest — people may say horrible things about the wines…or they may say great things.  The point is, Humanitas has no control over the dialogue — but importantly — it is a dialogue. And to me, that is the important thing.  And theoretically, as the sponsors of this tasting are Twitter Moms and Mashable, literally thousands, maybe tens of thousands of people may be tuning in to witness and join in on the fun – and without having to move from the comfort of their own computer, pda or phone.  I certainly hope so.

This Twitter Taste Live (TTL) vehicle and the blogosphere has inspired this week’s Humanitas Hump Day Haiku:

Twitter-Mania
An Excellent Way to Taste…
Humanitas Wines!

And in celebration of this revolutionary way to taste & read ‘live’ what others are saying about the wines and the charitable concept of Humanitas, I have put together a special Twitter Taste pack including one bottle each of the four wines being tasted.  To learn more, click here:  Humanitas Twitter Taste Trial Pack.

I invite you to join in the ‘virtual party’ of Twitter Taste Live this Friday — and as always…drink charitably!