We visited a Pennsylvania winery, Nimble Hill Vineyard & Winery, yesterday and found the winemaker, Kevin Durland out in the vineyard with Gary Toczko, owner and vineyard manager, working in the vines. It is encouraging to see a winemaker in the vineyards. These vineyards were within a few feet of the winery. The vineyards for the wine we make is often thousands of miles away, so spending time in the vineyards is not practical.

Kevin mentioned that the winery will begin to make more cases of certain varieties; however, he will need to get the wines into distribution. Currently some of the local restaurants carry his wines. However, being located in a small town, he needs more distribution outlets. We have heard winemakers and owners lament about distribution for years. The reality is that only so many wines can be sold from the tasting room. Go beyond that amount and you need to get the wines distributed.

Kathy and I have a discovered a similar challenge. We are getting ready to send our first wine-related book  to our publisher. Like a winery, we will make the most by selling the book ourselves. However, there is a large world out there and like many wineries we will need to get the book into distribution. Our book should be available for the 2012 holiday season. Vineyard workers and winemakers face many challenges. Authors also face challenges. Occasionally, those challenges are similar.

Cheers,
Terry