I’ve made little secret about how much Karen and I appreciate the work done by the Historic Vineyard Society to preserve California’s treasured old vineyards. Having just received their latest newsletter, I wanted to share it with Eve’s Wine 101 readers. So, with the permission of HVS’s Mike Dildine, here it is…
It’s difficult to describe the last several weeks throughout Sonoma and Napa. Horrific fires raged a path of destruction across our beautiful land, and while the fires are behind us, they left deep scars that will take a great deal of time to heal. But amidst the heartbreaking news were countless examples of heroism and generosity, along with astounding stories about historic vineyards being saved. A few specific examples:
- Old Hill Ranch in Sonoma – Will Bucklin and members of his family stayed at the vineyard as long as possible, putting out fires as the Nuns fire threatened the vines. A few vines are scorched and several structures on the property burned, but the vineyard, and Will and Lizanne’s home, are still standing.
- Pagani Ranch – a firefighting team made up primarily of prison inmates created a fire break just behind Norma Amantite’s home. While the fire came right up to the vineyard, these amazing vines – and Norma’s house – survived.
- Puccini Vineyard – this tiny one-acre vineyard, was threatened by the fire but was unharmed. The stone ‘clos’ that surrounds the vineyard, built by Puccini’s planter in 1906, helped save the vineyard 111 years later.
- Monte Rosso Vineyard – the fires burned up the Mayacamas Mountains, burning from Sonoma Valley to Napa, but Monte Rosso still stands.
We clearly have much to be grateful for, and can’t emphasize enough how much we appreciate all your messages this month. As we approach the end of another year, we’d like to remind you about a few ways to be more involved with HVS and continue to support our efforts to keep these important pieces of California history in the ground.
Ways to Support HVS:
- Donate! Perhaps the most obvious answer, but we can’t overstate how much we value all your contributions. As a reminder, your tax-deductible donation directly supports historic vineyards through education, research and vineyard-related events. Help keep these precious vines in the ground!
- Attend HVS Events! Save the date for 2018 HVS Events:
- February 7th, 2018, when HVS will be pouring at Cadet Beer & Wine Bar in Napa
- Date TBD: we’re looking forward to scheduling an HVS Tasting in San Francisco! Please stay tuned for more details to follow.
- Shop using AmazonSmile, where .5% of every eligible order will be donated to HVS. To get started, visit smile.amazon.com, then search for and select Historic Vineyard Society. Every penny counts!
Once again, we can’t thank you enough for all your support of HVS. We look forward to another great year to come.
Michael Perlis has been pursuing his passion for wine for more than 25 years. He has had the good fortune of having numerous mentors to show him the way, as well as a wonderful wife who encourages him and shares his interest. After a couple of decades of learning about wine, attending events, visiting wineries and vineyards, and tasting as much wine as he possibly could, he had the amazing luck to meet Eve Bushman. Now, as Contributing Editor for Eve’s Wine 101, he does his best to bring as much information as possible about wine to Eve’s Wine 101 faithful readers. Michael is also Vice President of Eve Bushman Consulting (fka Eve’s Wine 101 Consulting) http://evebushmanconsulting.com/ and President of MCP Financial. Michael can be contacted at michaelthezinfan@aol.com or michael@evebushmanconsulting.com.
