Headlines

Perlis Picks: Membership with the Historic Vineyard Society

Michael Perlis08 mins

I’ve written about the Historic Vineyard Society various times over the years. This organization is near and dear to my heart, dedicated to the preservation of California’s historic vineyards, so many of which have been lost to development or replanted to grapes that are currently in vogue and therefore more profitable. Karen and I have had the pleasure of attending some of the society’s events and we’ve encouraged others to do so as well. We’ve also made some great friendships along the way.

But now there is an opportunity for fans of these important historic vineyards to assist in the efforts of the HVS on an ongoing basis. I recently received the following email:

You are invited to become part of the HVS family

Dear friends, 

Since HVS launched almost ten years ago, we have been driven by our commitment to preserving California’s historic vineyards. Many of these vines have been around much longer than we all have, surviving two World Wars, Prohibition and an ever-changing economy and climate. We started HVS to save historic vineyards, and our mission is even more important today as it was back then.

We are continually working to initiate projects that move this goal forward, but we need your help to do so.

We have decided as a Board to open up an HVS membership, one that involves an annual commitment to HVS at various levels.

Why? We continue to operate with almost no overhead, but we do have a small amount of expenses to keep HVS up and running.

For those who want to take their involvement with HVS one step further, click the link below to make a commitment to supporting HVS each year. For as little as a few cents each day, you can help keep these precious vines in the ground. Thank you for your consideration, and as always, let us know if you have any questions or feedback.

Best,
The HVS Board of Directors 

Signed:

Mike Officer

Tegan Passalacqua

Morgan Twain-Peterson

Bob Biale

David Gates

Mike Dildine

##

For those of you who are fans of old vineyard sites, especially those dedicated to Zinfandel, Syrah and great old field blends, you’ll definitely recognize at least some of these names.

Emily Rasmussen, HVS Administrator, sent me some additional information:

We have been floored and so excited by the response to our newly launched membership. We’ve started to add our members to our new Supporters page, linked here.  

Here is a bit more info than we have in the email:  

  • We offer incremental benefits as follows, listed individually on each membership page:
    • Old Vine ($50/year) and Centenarian Vine ($100/year) Members receive:
      • Your name listed on the HVS website’s Supporters page 
      • A welcome gift from HVS
    • Ancestor Vine ($500/year) Members receive:
      • Your name listed on the HVS website’s Supporters page 
      • A welcome gift from HVS
      • First access to purchasing tickets to HVS events
    • Historic Vine ($1000/year) Members receive: 
      • Your name listed on the HVS website’s Supporters page 
      • A welcome gift from HVS
      • First access to purchasing tickets to HVS events
      • One complimentary ticket to each HVS event

Membership is a way of committing to a yearly donation to HVS. Donating is completely optional: all are welcome to support HVS by receiving our emails and attending our events, or by making a one-time donation at any amount using our Donations Page. Donating/not donating, joining/not joining membership will not impact anyone’s status on the HVS mailing list or one’s ability to attend events.

All those on our mailing list will receive the same offers to purchase tickets to HVS events (and wine, if applicable).  

Let me know if I can answer any other questions. Thanks so much for your support, Michael! 

 ##

For anyone who has an interest in helping with the preservation of these old vineyards, this is a great opportunity to participate [along with attending events and purchasing wine, of course]. I already see some names I know on the HVS Supporters page and I’m looking forward to seeing more.

Michael Perlis has been pursuing his passion for wine for more than 30 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 President of MCP Financial, which provides outsourced controller services. Michael can be contacted at michaelthezinfan@aol.com or mcpfinancial@aol.com.

Related News