When I sat down to write this article, it occurred to me that I had no idea what a foundation is, or an endowment for that matter. I had heard of foundations like the Ford Foundation and endowments like the National Endowment for the Arts, but never understood how one is either similar or different from the other. From my limited understanding of the subject, it appears that a foundation makes funds available to establish an organization through endowments with an eye towards future maintenance; whereas an endowment is basically the source of funding.

Once I had that the definition of a foundation straightened out, I then had to sort what exactly the Dinastia Vivanco Foundation was and how I would clearly describe it to you. So humor me while I give it my best shot. The Foundation was established in 2004 by the Vivanco family to share wine’s rich legacy over the centuries. How do they do this? They do this through the disbursement of family funds and resources to investigate both vine growing and winemaking practices, as well as both preserving and displaying various artifacts dedicated to wine. Now technically, because the foundation is funded by the entire Vivanco family, all members of the family have equal power in making meaningful decisions as to how this money is used, but there is one member who has taken the Foundation to heart, taking an active role as Director of the Vivanco Foundation. Santiago Vivanco, one of the two Vivanco brothers, has been the driving force behind the Foundation from the moment of its inception. While Santiago’s brother, Rafael, has spearheaded the management of the winery and winemaking, Santiago has been the driving force …