Two Sisters Margo rosé approaching $50,000 raised for Gillian's Place

For the sixth straight year, a portion of the proceeds from sales of Two Sisters Vineyards Margo rosé will support Gillian’s Place in their quest to end domestic violence. With $42,000 raised so far, this year’s 2022 vintage release may push the total past the $50,000 mark.

For owners Melissa Marotta-Paolicelli and Angela Marotta, supporting Gillian’s Place has been an obvious choice since day one. 

“We know friends who have been in very bad situations with their partners,” Angela tells The Local. “Some could not leave because they didn’t have the financial independence to do so. As women, any one of us could have been in those situations. We wanted to find all the ways to support this particular shelter.”

And help them they have. Last May, the Marotta family donated $1.5 million to help Giillian’s Place build an addition to its Niagara Street location in St. Catharines. 

“We wanted to commit to something that is bricks and mortar, that our community will see, that our children will see,” Angela says. “When we drive by it, our children know we’ve done this. They know that they will have to continue that responsibility as well.”

“We are so abundantly grateful to all our supporters year after year,” says Graeme Dargavel, Gillian’s Place’s director of development and communications. “Specifically, Two Sisters donation to the Marotta Centre for Violence Prevention and Outreach Support allows us to hopefully break ground this fall.”

Dargavel says the addition will allow all outreach and violence prevention programs to move out of the current building, freeing up space for more shelter rooms. That’s crucial, as last year Gillian’s Place operated at 60 percent over their funded capacity in the old Victoria School.

Of Two Sisters support through wine sales, Dargavel says the amount raised so far is “very impressive. It continues year after year. We always have a need for reliable, stable funding to help us reach our goal of raising $1 million a year. It ensures our priority programs can continue to be offered when survivors need it most.”

That includes their legal program, which is almost entirely donor-funded, and community education and violence prevention. 

Melissa tells The Local that the entire Two Sisters team enthusiastically gets behind supporting Gillian’s Place through the wine sales. 

“It’s incredibly rewarding,” says Melissa. “Our staff really get involved, not just trying to sell the wine but in explaining how part of the proceeds go to the donation. They are proud to be a part of it.”

“People feel good buying it,” adds Angela.

The choice of a rosé was also obvious to the sisters. 

“A rosé is often female-focused,” says Melissa. “We thought it was appropriate with the colour, the beautiful bottle and the label. We felt it was very fitting out of all of our portfolio to have the rosé as the one that would support Gillian’s Place.”

Angela adds, “It’s also called Margo. So it has a personality. Women can relate to it.”

The Two Sisters website describes the Margo rosé as “delicate yet inviting, offering lovely aromatics of ripe red fruits, fresh flowers, pine forest and spring blossoms, delivering beautiful fruit on the palate, along with floral notes and an elegant, very subtle spiciness.”

“It’s a beautiful rosé and very popular with our customers,” says Melissa. “It’s a blend of reds on our property, 70 percent Cabernet Franc. We’re very proud of it.” 

The Margo rosé can be purchased directly from the Two Sisters Vineyard website or at the winery’s John St. East location.