Kathy and I have been invited to wineries to sell our books for the past three years. We interact with the guests and may sell a book or two. Recently, we have conducted author talks with a multi-media presentation followed by a book signing. At our first small turnout author talk, although curious, we sold no books. Where were the lines waiting to talk to the authors and have a book signed? We had to wait until the end of February.

We were invited to Harvest Ridge Winery in Marydel, Delaware to present our author talk about “The Birthplace of Wine” and a short introduction to the Wine Century Club. We were told to expect about 120 people. About 200 showed up. This was by far the largest crowd that we presented to. There was also a line waiting to purchase books and have them inscribed. The lines we see in those Hollywood movies really do exist.

The large crowd didn’t come to the winery to just hear our talk about the beginnings of wine. This was a large group of wine club members and along with our talk there was a wine pickup party. Everyone collected a glass of wine and some food, then settled down for our presentation in the large event space that was full.

Harvest Ridge Winery has an amazing staff. Some of the staff came outside to greet us soon after we parked the car. This was noteworthy since the temperatures were below freezing. We were quickly taken care of. Samantha Hall (Sam) showed us where to set up and scurried around to find a crate to set our projector on, an extension cord and power strip. Sam is the event coordinator and tasting room manager. She was full of energy and we knew we did not have to worry about anything. We were then invited to have lunch. After the presentation and book signing we enjoyed a barrel and tank wine tasting with owner Chuck Nunan and winemaker Milan Madjan. The staff at Harvest Ridge seemed more like family.

Prior to and after the author talk and book signing we had a chance to talk with some of the wine club members. I had the sense that they really appreciate having a winery close to them and in particular they like Harvest Ridge. Some of the wine club members commented that they would really like to see Harvest Ridge make a qvevri wine. Chuck Nunan also likes this idea. Qvevri winemaking is the only winemaking process that is on the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

We were very pleased that we sold more books than ever before. The staff was great and the audience was interested in learning about Georgia and its 8,000 years of winemaking and viticulture.

A large group attended our author talk at Harvest Ridge Winery.

Cheers,
Terry