The idea for Come Over October came to Karen MacNeil while walking her dog. MacNeil, the globally acclaimed wine communicator, was thinking about the current state of wine — a state she describes as perilous — and how to help. She came up with the concept of a month-long national marketing campaign that encourages people to simply come together and share some wine.
MacNeil, wanting to make sure she was truly onto something, reached out to her longtime friends, Kimberly Noelle Charles, DipWSET (founder and president of Charles Communications Associates) and Gino Colangelo (president of Colangelo & Partners). They were immediately on board, agreeing that this was a really good idea. The momentum for Come Over October (COO) has been rapidly growing since that morning of February 2024.
“It’s an extremely positive campaign. It’s also irrefutable that wine is a communal beverage,” MacNeil told VinePair. “As a longtime writer and researcher, it is an absolute fact that for 9,000 years, wine has had a role in society of bringing people together. Every wine drinker has a story to tell of new friendships that were formed over simply sharing some wine.”
Sounds simple enough, right? But the role of wine in culture and society is pretty profound, according to MacNeil, and COO wants to celebrate and shine a spotlight on the communal aspect of this magical beverage. From the wineries to the distributors, the retailers, the restaurants, and beyond — there is no part of the wine industry that this campaign
