Monday, September 23, 2013

Letter from Jamie Fish, membership officer FBV

Dear members and Prospective Members,

Peter Fland, our new president, along with the French Broad Vignerons board members have been working hard to provide a schedule of wine education, discovery and resources along with friendship and fun in the upcoming year.  We have an events schedule that combines the best of all of these.  Gatherings are intended to occur bi-monthly and there will be one special meeting annually for the election of officers and the approval and discussion of the budget.  Alan will also schedule FBV Training Sessions that will be topic specific for those months we do not have a regular membership activity.  More information will come for these sessions shortly.

Schedule as we understand it so far.  Additions and adjustments may occur.

October 19th   Wine Tour and Tasting

 Burntshirt Vineyards 2:00 PM for tour and tasting, Saint Paul Vineyards at 5:00 PM for tasting and tour.  Covered dish dinner at Alan and Heather Staton's home. 

December 7th  Bring on the Bubbles

Discussion of several varieties of sparkling wine, their history and origins and how they compare and differ.  Please bring a bottle of sparkling wine, glasses will be provided.  We will also have a covered dish dinner at the home of Bill and Jamie Fish.

February The Price is Right

 Wine Focus Fund Raiser - We will not raise much.  Each person who attends needs to buy a $10 ticket.   At the meeting we will serve and compare (blind) wines retailing at $10, 20, 30 and 40. Your ticket covers the purchase of the wines and the remainder goes into the treasury. The purpose is to introduce interesting and quality wines that may be out of the mainstream that would be worthy additions to your cellars.
Location and dinner plans to be announced.  

April    Wine and What!   Ladies Night (Husbands by invitation)

Class on Camembert making by Kelley.  This event will discuss the pairing of wine and how to make food and wine compliment each other.  
Location and date to be announced

June   Wine Tour and Dinner 

Another Friday or Saturday event where we will take a bus to tour a group of selected wineries.  We will feature NC wineries initially, but we can investigate trips to surrounding states as well. 

August. Summer gathering

Event to be announced. 

The six general membership meetings will have a fixed format for each event. 
Short educational presentation by Alan or designee

Structured wine tasting - Please remember to bring your wine glass kits.  This could be a blind tasting or particular style of a wine selected by Alan or designee to demonstrate a type, a feature, a fault or some unique quality.  On occasion we may include an additional wine or grape related products.

Question/answer opportunity.  

Sharing - Each member may rise and briefly talk about the wine or value added product that they brought to the meeting to share.

Covered dish dinner or restaurant selection.

Board Report with follow-up discussion as needed.  This will occur after everyone has had something to eat and it is intended to be short.

Event reports - A form of committee report especially when the chair would need extra assistance or if there is major project news to share..

In addition to our great activities, FBV membership also saves you money. As of now we have the following for our value added program and we are continuing to work with other stores and restaurants to secure a discount for our membership.  You will receive a specific notice when the program officially starts.

Table Wine - 10% off wine purchases
Falderal - 10% off winemaking supplies
Jewel of the Blue Ridge - 10% off on vines

We hope our schedule of events, education, support and savings will make belonging to FBV a fun and rewarding experience.  If you have not sent in your membership form and dues please do  so to continue receiving information and updates on events.   We will look forward to seeing you at our kick off tour and tasting  October 19th. 

Jamie Fish







French Broad Vignerons Membership Application
Name________________________________________________________
Address______________________________________________________
Telephone(Land)_________________________Cell__________________________
Email__________________________________________________________________
Do you have a vineyard or orchard? Y___N___
Do you intend to have a vineyard or orchard? Y___N___
If you have a vineyard or orchard, what are the GPS coordinates?
________________
Do you currently make wine from either grapes or fruit? Y___N___
Do you intend to make wine from either grapes or fruit? Y___N___
Do you intend to produce any other fruit or grape products? Y___N___
To Join FBV, please return this form and a check for $25 to: Judy Fland, 362 Webb Drive, Marshall, NC, 28753

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