Last Wednesday I was sent to cover Barefoot Wine and Bubbly’s ‘Pedi for a Cause’ event at the Arta Gallery in the Distillery District. Before I tell you about it I’d like to relay a small list of things I love in no particular order: wine, food, dance music, and lounging. Pedi for a Cause was a party full of delicious appetizers, Barefoot wines and bubbly, and fantastic music (including an awesome dance remix of Neil Young’s ‘Harvest Moon’ which is not nearly as blasphemous as one might assume). I was also able to get my lounge on as aestheticians provided foot massages and pedicures to all the guests. It was fun to walk around the Gallery in little white slippers while my nail polished dried. Party on top, home body on the bottom.

The caterers passed out amazing food, including the surprising green beans wrapped in garlic popcorn. Who knew that was a thing? They were also very attentive- when they noticed I wasn’t eating meat they made sure to bring veggie-only trays my way all night. I showed my appreciation by stuffing my face. And of course, they served an array of Barefoot wines and bubbly including a delightful Bubbly Pinot Grigio. I showed my appreciation by gulping them down.

I was able to learn a lot more about Barefoot Wine & Bubbly’s charitable work in Canada. MTV’s Sharlene Chiu emceed the event and Barefoot Winemaker Jennifer Wall was there to explain some of her company’s nonprofit endeavours. The California-based winery has a unique ‘no advertising’ marketing approach and choses instead to allocate funds to help the nonprofit sector. Because of this, Barefoot is able to provide wine to over 650 charity events in Canada every year. Since its introduction to Canada in 2008 Barefoot has poured over 450,000 glasses of wine yearly at charitable events. It helps that their Moscato is the best selling wine of that variety in Ontario… I loved it. I also love Barefoot’s price tag: their wine retails for about $10 to $14 dollars nationally.

On this particular night Barefoot made a donation to Second Harvest, the largest food rescue program in Canada. They deliver food to over 215 agencies in Toronto and 40% of their food recipients are children and youth. I also discovered that Barefoot does a lot of work with the LGBTQ community; their ‘Original Barefooter’ Randy Arnold spearheaded Barefoot’s charitable partnerships in 1980 and has been a long time supporter of LGBTQ rights.

Thanks to Barefoot Wine and Bubbly for their fantastic event, now the next time I go to the LCBO I’ll be able to pick up a wine that I know aligns with my ideals and my budget.

~ Lisa Amerongen