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Oral Histories

The SFA oral history program documents life stories from the American South. Collecting these stories, we honor the people whose labor defines the region. If you would like to contribute to SFA’s oral history collections, please send your ideas for oral history along with your CV or Resume and a portfolio of prior oral history work to info@southernfoodways.org.

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ORAL HISTORY

Tracey Love

Blenheim Vineyards

Tracey Love began working at Blenheim Vineyards in 2012, marketing grass-fed beef and managing events at Blenheim Vineyard’s sister farm. In 2013, she became the wholesale wine distributor for Blenheim Vineyards. Love works with the Virginia Winery Distribution Company to self-distribute Blenheim Vineyard’s wine within the state of Virginia. She also managed winery events like the Blenheim Vineyard Wine Club.

In the middle of March 2020, Blenheim Vineyards closed to the public. During the Pandemic, Wholesale wine sales plummeted, and Love and her colleagues began selling wine on their website, shipping bottles to thirty-eight states. They also set up remote pickup locations for local buyers and a delivery service. Love continued to coordinate virtual events like virtual Wine Club and wine tastings. In July 2020, they opened their doors to the public with a limited schedule and reduced capacity.

Date of interview:
2020-07-30

Interviewer:
Annemarie Anderson

Photographer:

Download Transcript

“

"As far as like our local supporters and our Wine Club members and customers, I mean, they have all been amazing. I mean, I think, you know, our online sales and I feel like the amount of emails and support that we’ve received throughout this whole thing, you know, I mean, you would think that people couldn’t survive without Blenheim Vineyards wine. I mean, I know, I think, alcohol consumption has probably gone up for everyone since this quarantine, pandemic, you know, crisis began, but our supporters have been amazing in that way." - Tracey Love

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