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Gourmet food retailer Fairway Market and its Fairway Wines & Spirits stores have signed on as the first local corporate sponsor of the inaugural season of “Vine Talk,” a new lifestyle series airing on New York metropolitan-area public television stations WNET THIRTEEN and WLIW21.

Recorded live at the Tisch WNET Studios at Lincoln Center in New York City, “Vine Talk” stars actor Stanley Tucci, who guides a changing celebrity panel through a blind taste test of wines each week. Every episode showcases a different wine region from around the world, sparking lively conversation and debate.

The venture marks Fairway’s first sponsorship of WNET New York Public Media. The hometown grocer’s support kicks off with an integrated cross-media campaign including a series of broadcast acknowledgements. The first on-air spot will debut on April 21. The retailer will also run a full-page ad in the THIRTEEN program guide and promote the series in its in-store circulars and online.

“As a New York institution like WNET, Fairway prides itself in serving the local communities,” says Howie Glickberg, CEO of Fairway, which was founded by his grandfather Nathan more than 75 years ago and now operates seven stores in the tristate area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. “It makes perfect sense for us to support ‘Vine Talk,’ a destination program for food and wine lovers, since Fairway is a destination shopping experience for them as well."

“Fairway's motto, ‘Like No Other Market,’ shares the public media philosophy of providing standout content to attract audiences in today's diverse media environment,” notes WNET president and CEO Neal Shapiro. “’Vine Talk’ is an ideal platform and a natural extension to bring Fairway’s culinary passion to the public.”

Additionally, as part of Fairway’s extended charitable contribution to WNET, the grocer will donate 10 percent of its net revenue from a designated weekend in its Pelham, N.Y., and Stamford, Conn., Wines & Spirits stores, attended by notables from “Vine Talk” and WNET.

Source: Progressive Grocer