FOR A GOOD CAUSE: Charity spills from Hope Wine sales

Young. Energetic. Smart. Experienced. Socially responsible. Full of hope.

The eight 20-somethings behind Hope Wine embody all those qualities and more.

While they represent the entrepreneurial spirit that defines their generation, their goal is “to grow Hope Wine into one of the largest and most recognized brands of wine in the United States and at the same time donate millions of dollars to charity.”

Kristen Senseman, 24, Alyse Gome, 28, Brandon Hall, 25, Tom Leahy, 29, Jake Kloberdanz, 24, Tiffany Goodman, 24, Sarah Gora, 24 and Blake Perry, 25, are friends and business partners combining charitable causes — AIDS, autism and breast cancer — with three varietals of wine, and marketing the concept to restaurants and grocery stores from Los Angeles to San Diego.

Before starting their own company, the group worked as sales reps for one of the industry leaders in the wine-making business.

While they described it as a difficult job because they worked such long hours, Senseman said they were a “family” and were reluctant to name the company they left in January because “we loved our experience there, and don’t want to invalidate that experience by having people think we left for negative reasons.”

Kloberdanz was the first to leave and his friends described him as the mastermind behind the operation — the “go-to-guy” and the one who saw an opportunity to take retail sales and a “good cause” to a new level.

Leahy said when they were selling wine to grocery stores Kloberdanz realized that retailers who normally wouldn’t get excited about the product they were pushing would get very excited when there was a “charitable push” behind it.

Trouble was, that “push” only lasted for a short time.

“Jake thought, why just capture that one month or six-week period of sales when you can do something like have a year-round push and still have the money go to a charitable organization?” Leahy said.

They don’t have an office, they don’t have any other staff and they personally deliver bottles and cases of wine to their customers themselves.

And they’re still working long hours, but for all of them, there’s purpose behind their endeavors.

“Every day when you come home, you feel so good about what you’re doing,” Senseman said.

Each varietal of Hope Wine is bottled and labeled by the Sonoma Wine Company, and the group got what they wanted from the company — a good balance, with “quality wine at a good price.”

It was important to them to make sure people enjoyed what they were drinking, but they also needed to make a profit.

Their mission is to donate 50% of what they make semi-annually to the charitable organizations they support.

Hope Wine launched in June, with a 2006 Chardonnay benefiting the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a 2005 Merlot benefiting the City of Hope and AIDS and a 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon benefiting autism.

Mama D’s restaurant in Newport Beach was the first to throw its hat into the ring and put Hope Wine on the map — and the menu.

Owner Keith Davidson has been at his location for two-and-a-half years, and said helping this group get started “was something I couldn’t pass up.”

Bottles of wine line the counters at Mama D’s, and brochures that explain what Hope Wine is all about are included in the menus servers pass out to customers.

There are also bottles displayed on all their counters when you walk into the restaurant.

Jennifer Beaver has been a waitress at Mama D’s for about a year and said the response from customers has been great.

“People really do light up when you explain what it’s all about,” she said. Business at Mama D’s has picked up in the last few months, and Davidson is quick to admit the Hope Wine concept probably has contributed to the crowds spilling out the front door and onto the street on any given night.

“It seems to be getting very close to being a partnership,” he said.

“I don’t know that it’s ever really been said, but it’s been said in the ‘unsaid’ that we’re there and we’re in.”

Other local restaurants carrying the Hope Wine label include The Bungalow and Landmark Steakhouse in Corona del Mar, Skosh Monahan’s in Costa Mesa and The Alley and 21 Oceanfront in Newport Beach.

Expecting to grow, Hope Wine is looking forward to adding more charities and more varietals to their resume.

Eventually, they’ll probably have a national distributor as well, but for now, they’ve developed a relationship with area representatives from the charities, and they can tell customers their money goes to local causes.

“That really, really means a lot to people, because they can see how it directly benefits the community at a local level,” the group said.

For more information, go to www.hopewine.com.

SUE THOENSEN may be reached at (714) 966-4627 or at sue.thoensen@latimes.com.