Kindness

Touch-A-Life Foundation Partners With Besson Family Vineyards To Help Bay Area Farmers and Students Struggling From Wildfires and COVID-19

Tej Gundavelli

Tej Gundavelli, CEO and Co-Founder, Touch-A-Life Foundation

The boutique family-owned winery will sell $250 and $500 packages of premium estate wines. Twenty-five percent of all purchases will go to Touch-A-Life Foundation to support local farmers and students

One night over dinner, the Gundavelli and Besson families discussed how COVID-19 and now-annual California wildfires battered their beloved communities. The pandemic kept tourists away and smoke from the wildfires choked vines and tainted grapes, affecting wine supplies for years to come. The rippling effects have impacted everyone in wine country, most notably Bay Area farmers and their families. Feeling a deep sense of duty to their neighbors – which the families considered an extension of their own – both the Gundavellis and Bessons decided to join forces and help bring aid to those in need of housing, clothing, food, and other necessities.

“Both of our families originated outside the United States and experienced hardships and struggles similar to many local families in our community,” said Sai Gundavelli. “We know what it’s like to build something from nothing, to pour a generation’s worth of sweat and tears into a familial undertaking with the hope that it lasts forever. To lose all that virtually overnight from a fire or pandemic is beyond comprehension. That could easily be your family and mine. They need help, and those of us fortunate to do so – be it through money or volunteering – must heed the call.”

“The Besson family is deeply rooted in our community, serving both in the sectors of farming and education,” said Denise Besson. “It was a devastating year with the CA wildfires, pandemic, and economic downturn and closures of family-owned businesses. We too felt the impact and yet, working side by side with our local farmers and laborers, we experienced the plight of these hardships first hand and the importance of giving back to help those in need.”

With some of the oldest vineyards in Santa Clara County today, Besson Family Vineyards is the home to acres of chardonnay, grenache, mission, mourvedre, pinot noir, syrah, and zinfandel. These grapes have been used in many award-winning wines produced by such wineries as Birichino, I. Brand, David Bruce, Bonny Doon, Calera, Orin Swift, and Sarah’s Vineyard. For the first time in its nearly 100-year history, the boutique winery is bottling under the family name exclusive, direct-to-consumer red, and white premium wines.

To celebrate the new venture and help local communities devastated by the pandemic, the boutique winery will offer a premium box of hand-crafted estate wines in the donors’ choice red, white, or mixed varietals as follows:

Note: (Wines subject to change based on availability)

    1. $250: Besson Family Vineyards will gift you three bottles among these choices*:
      1. Reds
        1. 2016 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon “Silver Lining”
        2. 2019 Estate Red Blend “Melange Rouge”
        3. 2019 Estate Pinot Noir
      2. Whites
        1. 2020 Sauvignon Blanc
        2. 2019 Picpoul Blanc
        3. 2020 Estate Chardonnay
      3. Mixed
        1. 2020 Estate Chardonnay
        2. 2019 Estate Red Blend “Melange Rouge”
        3. 2019 Estate Pinot Noir
    2. $500: Besson Family Vineyards will gift you six bottles among these choices*:
      1. Reds
        1. 2016 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon “Silver Lining”
        2. 2019 Estate Syrah
        3. 2019 Estate Old Vine Zinfandel “The Centurion”
        4. 2019 Estate Red Blend “Melange Rouge”
        5. 2018 Malbec
        6. 2019 Estate Pinot Noir
      2. Whites
        1. 2020 Sauvignon Blanc
        2. 2019 Picpoul Blanc
        3. 2020 Estate Chardonnay
        4. 2020 Estate Stainless Steel Chardonnay
        5. Blanc de Trois California Sparkling Wine
        6. 2020 Estate Rose
      3. Mixed
        1. 2020 Estate Rose
        2. 2020 Estate Chardonnay
        3. 2019 Picpoul Blanc
        4. 2019 Estate Red Blend “Melange Rouge”
        5. 2019 Estate Pinot Noir
        6. 2016 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon “Silver Lining”

The wines will arrive beautifully packaged in a premium gift box with a full-color insert about the history of the Besson family, background about Touch-A-Life Foundation, and ways to support the local community. Moreover, 25 percent of all proceeds will go directly to Touch-A-Life to support area farmers affected by the state’s wildfires and economically disadvantaged students in the Bay Area.