Celebrating 25 years calling Capitals games together, NBC Sports Washington's Joe Beninati and Craig Laughlin released their own wine called "Broadcast Blend" on Saturday during a watch party for Capitals vs. Penguins.Â
"Broadcast Blend" is a cabernet sauvignon made with grapes from the award-winning 3Steves Winery in Livermore, CA. Â
"This has been a six-month extravaganza trying to pulled together," Laughlin said. "It started with the wine and Joe B's love of wine, I had beers out and then we said, 'Why don't we collaborate on a wine to celebrate our 25th anniversary?'
"Today is all about raising awareness of cancer, trying to continue to raise funds for our foundation and to continue our fight with rare cancers. It's been overwhelming, the amount of people that have stepped up to try to help our cause."
The Caps-Penguins watch party took place at Five Iron Golf in Washington D.C. to both celebrate the broadcast duo's 25th anniversary as well as raise awareness for the Laughlin Family Foundation, which was started by Laughlin and his wife Linda in 2018. Linda was diagnosed with a rare form of endometrial cancer in April of 2018, a disease that only affects roughly 6,000 women per year in the United States.
The Laughlin Family Foundation is committed to advancing the care and research for cancers where there is limited clinical and patient knowledge around the disease. In the past, the Laughlin family has collaborated with local breweries and distilleries to create personalized beers and spirits all with the goal of raising funds for rare cancer research and treatment.Â
Also in attendance at the watch party were a few local celebrities that also share a broadcast with Beninati and Laughlin from time to time.Â
"They're such a tight-knit family and they've done so much for the community that it would be a shame to not be here for them," NBCSW's Alan May said. "If I'm away I come back, if I'm here, I'm always here and they mean the world to me."
"The coolest thing about all of this is I got to meet Linda Laughlin," NBCSW's Al Koken said. We talk about 'hockey tough,' there's no one I've ever met tougher than Linda Laughlin."
Fans and wine lovers everywhere can purchase a bottle of the "Broadcast Blend" on the 3Steves website with a portion of the sales will go to the Laughlin Family Foundation.