Earlier this year, I got to announce my first three-book deal from Gantz Family Vineyards, my parents’ vineyard in the Russian River Valley and the place that inspired the first two books in the “Filthy Rich” series, Lush Money and Hate Crush.
So taking part in my first harvest there last week, on my birthday, on the eve the release of my debut book after a lifetime of writing, was enormously special. I might have cried.
It was tough but awesome work, repetitive but exhausting: untying twist-ties off 1.5 acres of bird netting, lifting said netting, pulling leaves from that many acres to expose the fruit, getting up at the break of dawn to get ready for the vineyard crew, helping with a multitude of tasks while the majority-woman crew performed the delicate, skilled labor of snipping grape clusters from the vine.
I got to share this moment with my parents, Clay and Celeste Gantz, and my brother, Michael Lopez. Without partners or kids joining, it’s the first time it was just the four of us in…ever. So, yes, there were tears.
Learn more about harvest 2019 at Gantz Family Vineyards in this blog we wrote for their website. Get to the end; I made a video!!
Harvest 2019 at Gantz Family Vineyards
Harvest this year happened three times.
On Tuesday, September 17, a nine-person, majority-woman crew from Cornerstone Certified Vineyards showed up at 6:30 a.m. to harvest blocks 4 and 5 of our 4.5-acre vineyard. We were fortunate to be joined by our kids, Angelina M. Lopez and Michael Lopez, who got to take part in their first harvest at the vineyard. (Click to keep reading…)
