First Matakana Wine Festival

We had our first annual Matakana Wine and food festival here in our little valley. The only hitch was the rainy weather. We were happy about the rain ourselves as our water tanks were low but it sure cut down late minute attendance from Auckland. The event was from 10:30-6:30 ( yes, a long day in our booth for sure). People were there when the gates opened and all seemed to have a good time.

We printed up some shirts at the last minute that were a hit with everyone. The black shirt and the phrase on the back can be seen in the one photo. We had 8 people out selling away from our booth using plastic buckets who were wearing our shirts and selling wine. Some of the ladies said they got a few "squeezes" over the day as the back of the shirt suggested!!!!

We also sold Scarborough Fair Chocolate and found that giving free samples led to a lot of wine sales!!!! You can see the choc sitting on the bar in the one photo-that is Mike our wine maker holding up the bottle of bubbly that he produced and sold as well. The other photo shows Sandra and I with our NUMBER ONE SALESMAN--Bart Blommaaert who owns the best B and B in Auckland called Ascot Parnell. We stayed with Bart and his lovely wife, Therese, long ago when we first came to NZ and have become good friends. Bart could sell a frig to an Eskimo!!!!

The final photo shows me loading up our truck at the end of the day with our unsold wine. For those of you in NZ who missed the day, you need to put it on your events calander for the Jan-Feb summer of 2009 as it will be held before school starts next year and on a Sat. and not a Sun as this last week. Admission will also be lower next year. Stay tuned for info on that event in a few months!!

So, now we just watch the grapes grow and sit back and rest for a bit as we are all caught up at the vineyard as we prepare for our 08 harvest in about a month.
More soon.

Dr Jim and Miss Sandra