(Wines&Vines) - Two pre-eminent wine industry entrepreneurs and philanthropists hosted a grand opening yesterday for their newest endeavor: WholeVine Products. Brainchild of longtime friends and charitable collaborators Barbara Banke (widow of Jess Jackson and chair of Jackson Family Wines) and Peggy Furth (former co-owner of Chalk Hill Estate & Vineyards), WholeVine is launching a line of culinary products produced solely from pomace: the skins and seeds remaining after grapes are pressed for wine production. Wineries of all sizes produce pomace by the ton: It accounts for an estimated 20% of wet weight in fine wine production, according to wine industry veteran Paul Novak, general manager of WholeVine’s parent SonomaCeuticals, a sister company of Kendall-Jackson. This equates to a ton of pomace per every 5 tons of grapes crushed, and it means wineries are essentially discarding 20% of the price they pay for purchased grapes.