Surfside resident Munson launches a new wine
Proceeds to support 9/11 Memorial Fund
BY PANOS KAKAVIATOS CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Eric Munson, 47, of Surfside lost his brothers-in-law Daniel J. and Joseph P. Shea when terrorists struck the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001.

Dividing time between his native New York and the Surfside home he bought 10 years ago, Munson, formerly an investment manager, has been managing vineyards in California and Italy over the past five years through his company Dancing Bear Cellars.

Ten percent of proceeds from the sale of his just-released tenth bottling - Dancing Bear Shea Cuvée Pinot Noir, Mendocino County 2006 - will support the 9-11 Memorial Fund in New York.

He expects to raise about $30,000 for the planned memorial from sales of his wine, which is available at various onisland establishments for $30 a bottle. His family - via the Shea Family Fund - has also pledged $250,000 to the memorial.

"This bottling is very close to my heart and really goes to the root of why I founded Dancing Bear Cellars," said Munson, who was with the Sheas in their New York offices just one week before 9-11.

"One of the lessons we learned from that tragedy is that life is short and therefore is meant to be celebrated. By bottling these wines I get the opportunity to share this vision with those around me. I want to dedicate this wine to them and to the thousands of others who perished that day - we will never forget you," he added.

The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation also announced this month that the site will be named the "National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center."

Concerning Munson's new wine: "The Memorial & Museum is grateful for the additional contribution which will help build the National September 11 Memorial & Museum to honor the memory of the innocent victims of the attacks and preserve the story of September 11 for future generations," said Michelle Breslauer of the Memorial & Museum's public relations office.

Culled from 33,800 donations from all 50 states and 27 foreign countries so far, the Memorial & Museum has raised some $300 million towards its private fundraising goal of $350 million. Construction of the Memorial began in March 2006, with preliminary work to cover the original box beam columns that outline the perimeters of the Twin Towers. "The steel for the project is currently being milled and fabricated and we expect to begin to install steel at the site late this year," Breslauer told The Nantucket Independent.

"Danny Shea was buried in Valhalla, New York, while Joe's remains were never recovered," Munson said. "The memorial will be his gravesite, like thousands of others of brothers and sisters

who were lost that day." I