Sonoma County Vintners Foundation gets new leader

Dan Goldfield, partner and winemaker of Dutton-Goldfield Winery, has stepped down as president of the Sonoma County Vintners Foundation after five years at the helm.

Mark Malpiede, vice president of sales and marketing of Williams Selyem Winery in Healdsburg, will take over the top spot for the nonprofit group, which distributes monies raised from the Wine Harvest Auction to local charities.

The foundation has become one of the top charitable givers in the county as a result of its annual Harvest Wine Auction, which has raised $24 million throughout the years to benefit local groups and endeavors.

In a statement, Caroline Shaw, board president of the Sonoma County Vintners association trade group, noted Goldfield’s “passion, energy and dedication to being engaged with the communities where we live and work was infectious.”

Goldfield could not be reached Tuesday for comment.

The foundation is the philanthropic arm of the trade group.

In recent years, the auction has seen its total amount raised grow from $443,500 in 2012 to last year’s record $4.6 million. With such growth, the foundation brought in the Community Foundation of Sonoma County to help administer the grants.

“It’s going to be pretty much down the same path as its been for the past few years,” said Malpiede of the foundation’s efforts going forward.

Already this year, the Sonoma County Vintners group has undergone many changes, including scrapping its annual multi-day Wine Country Weekend.

In its place, it will hold the Taste of Sonoma food and wine event at Green Music Center at Sonoma State University on Sept. 2 and Sept. 3 and hold the wine auction on Sept. 16 at La Crema Estate at Saralee’s Vineyard in Windsor.

In 2013, the foundation started Fund for the Future, which had a mission of raising children’s literacy rates across the country. About $6.7 million has been raised to support 14 literacy programs throughout the county.

The foundation renewed the program through 2020 based on positive anecdotal response, said Malpiede, as it conducts research to determine if the program is having a tangible effect.

The foundation also provides grants to other areas outside of literacy: health and human services, education, environment and arts and culture.

The board may explore opportunities to expand its reach in the future with other charitable-giving activities, Malpiede said. “It’s definitely possible. We haven’t scratched the surface on that,” he said.