The USA Triathlon Foundation has announced a partnership with The Vice Wine, a luxury winery based in Napa Valley, California, and operating out of California and New York.
The agreement runs through 2022. Proceeds from The Vice Wine’s triathlon-inspired luxury limited edition batch ‘The Tri Blend’ will benefit the USA Triathlon Foundation and help to support its mission, which is to transform lives through sport by providing opportunities to swim, bike and run.
The Vice Wine is co-founded by Malek Amrani, a multi-year member of USA Triathlon’s amateur Team USA, and his wife, Torie Greenberg.
“Pursuing a partnership with The Vice Wine is a unique opportunity for the USA Triathlon Foundation,” said David Deschenes, Executive Director of the USA Triathlon Foundation. “We’re able to provide our athletes with a high-quality, one-of-a-kind product, while also offering a unique way to give back to the sport by supporting the mission of the foundation.”
Malek Amrani, founder and winemaker of The Vice Wine, said “Elite and amateur triathletes alike have an ongoing quest for improvement in sports, while maintaining a clean and healthy diet, which is a pillar of the triathlete lifestyle. In 2017, triathlon became a healthy vice for me and helped me tremendously thrive in my field of winemaking. I’m proud that the simple pleasure of enjoying a glass of The Vice Wine can now help the USA Triathlon Foundation achieve its mission.”
The Tri Blend is available exclusively at The Vice Wine’s online shop at thevicewine.com. Based on triathlon’s three disciplines, the blend includes three distinctive grapes and is comprised of 16% Petite Sirah, 54% Malbec and 30% Cabernet Franc.
The inspiration behind the precise blending is the percentage of total race time spent on each discipline — swim, bike and run — by world champion Katie Zaferes en route to her victory at the 2019 ITU World Triathlon Grand Final in Lausanne, Switzerland.
“In triathlon, you have to consistently train for a long season and excel at all three sports during a race to score a victory,” Amrani said. “As in triathlon, I’ve worked very hard for the past three years to craft three unique wines from three vineyards of Napa Valley to blend this winner.”
“When I found out the inspiration behind The Vice ‘Tri Blend’ was my win at the ITU Grand Final 2019, I was both honoured and excited,” Katie Zaferes said. “It’s such an original and neat way to celebrate that day. I love that the blend of the wine is based on each component of the race, which really makes it all the more meaningful.
“This type of specialty wine has me looking forward to both savouring it and holding onto it just as I wanted to do with that moment in Lausanne last year. I just can’t wait for the moment when we can reunite with family and friends again and celebrate with such a meaningful wine that brings back many happy memories as we start a new journey to get back to racing, while being able to support the mission of the USA Triathlon Foundation.”
Advertising for The Vice Wine will not be included in materials or content targeted to USA Triathlon’s youth or under-21 audience. The Vice Wine will be available in the expo area for athletes over 21 years of age at the Legacy Triathlon in Long Beach, California, and the Toyota USA Triathlon Age Group National Championships in Milwaukee.
USA Triathlon annual members may use the code USAT25 to receive 25% off of all The Vice Wine products through May 30, and The Vice Wine will communicate additional member-exclusive offers throughout the year.
www.usatriathlonfoundation.org
www.thevicewine.com
