Purple Cowboy Wine Raises $22 Million for Breast Cancer

October 23, 20115 – October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and a winery in Paso Robles, CA does more than wear pink ribbons.  Since 2004 they have been raising money, which this year will reach an amazing grand total of $22 million.

The campaign is called “Tough Enough to Wear Pink?” and it is the brainchild of Terry Wheatley, Executive Vice President of Vintage Wine Estates, owners of Purple Cowboy among other wineries.  Terry’s husband was a professional rodeo cowboy and their son followed in his footsteps.  In 2004, when Terry was diagnosed with breast cancer, she came up with the idea of getting the cowboys to wear pink for one night of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas to raise awareness for the cause.
It caught on and the annual “Tough Enough to Wear Pink?” fund raising drive was born.  It is a grassroots campaign throughout the western United States and Canada funded by sales of “Tough Enough To Wear Pink?” clothing, gear and jewelry as well as donations from the corporate sponsors of the rodeo circuit. Most of the money stays in the local community, raising awareness about early detection and providing support for families faced with the disease. Some of the money is donated to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

And how did Purple Cowboy Wine get its name?  A group of winemakers liked to ride in the rodeos on the weekend.  They drank a lot of red wine staining their teeth purple.  So they were dubbed the Purple Cowboys.  Incidentally, Paso Robles is known for its big, hearty and dark reds.  The whole area is a great place to visit.

Purple Cowboy, the official wine of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) donates a portion of annual sales to “Tough Enough to Wear Pink?”  Their gold medal-winning Trail Boss Cabernet and Tenacious Red, a Cab/Syrah blend retail for around $12 each and have fairly wide distribution across the country.