“We first were exposed to Patty at the Minnesota Cold Climate Grape Growers Conference… after that event, we were very impressed. Since we have utilized Patty for several projects and on each occasion, we have had a great experience. With our opening on the horizon coupled with Patty’s guidance, we feel fortunate we have accessed many best practices that only trial and error would have been the alternative.”
Kent Schwickert, owner Chankaska Creek Ranch and Winery, MN
“I have managed wine industry conferences for many years, and am pleased to recommend Patty Held as a consultant who knows the Eastern industry and its marketing needs very well. When she is asked to present at my conferences, she doesn’t just speak her own mind but spends time compiling examples in photos from personal visits to winery tasting rooms across the East. She is courteous and professional and has years of successful tasting room management to bring to her presentations.”
Richard Leahy, Seminar Program Director, Eastern Winery Exposition
“Patty has a lot of experience she can draw on, but she’s also pointed toward the future. She’s always open to new ideas and how to make something better. Combining traditional concepts of quality and attention to detail with today’s technology is something Patty does very well.”
Mark Ganchiff, Publisher Midwest Wine Press
“Patty Held has annually been one of the most dynamic speakers at our License to Steal Conference. However, beyond her formal presentations, Patty has contributed mightily to the informal exchanges which are at the heart of ‘LTS.’ Her wit, creative ideas, years of practical experience in the business along with her willingness to share so much with all the attendees have been invaluable to the conference. Thanks Patty!!”
Donniella Winchell, Executive Director – Ohio Wine Producers
“Patty Held has enormous credibility throughout the wine industry. Any wine competition director would put Patty at the very top of his or her list of potential judges, far ahead of other, perhaps more publicly known, wine industry personalities.
Patty has lifelong experience in wine production, sales, and marketing that helped her to build her family’s winery into one of the giants of the regional wine industry. Her savvy set of skills will surely help create healthier businesses and stronger growth for many other industry entities, too.”
Doug Frost, wine consultant, and writer and one of only three people in the world to hold both Master Sommelier and Master of Wine titles
“Hiring Patty to consult for a day was worth every cent. She helps find areas to improve your business you wouldn’t have thought needed it. She helped get all the staff on the same page with a common goal. It takes money to make money; we made more money after her visit and improved our business as a whole!”
George and Brandi Hoff, Stone Pillar Vineyard and Winery
“Patty Held is extremely hard-working, meticulous, conscientious, and very thorough in everything she does … she has always represented the Adam Puchta Winery and the Hermann Wine Trail in a very positive and professional manner, while constantly striving to not only meet our current needs but always looking to the future for new opportunities and ways with which to improve our market position!”
Tim Puchta, President, Adam Puchta Winery
“We have a new and unique marketing service available to wine industry members in the Midwest.
The web-based consulting service is provided by Patty Held and is focused on; tasting room evaluation, staff training, and sales, website, customer service, promoting winery tourism, speaking at industry meetings, and in general sales, marketing, and promotion of wines.
In recent years, the Midwest has experienced a phenomenal increase in the number of new wineries and tasting room operations. On-premise wine sales (Tasting room) are extremely important to our wineries in order to improve profit margin, build brand identity, increase wine sales, and know their customer. The survival and prosperity of wineries depend on wine sales. We have used Patty’s services in Iowa and this has helped us in increasing retail wine sales in the state. I strongly feel that we are fortunate to have Patty’s service available to us.
Patty Held has vast experience in working with the wine industry. She grew up in a wine family and has worked in the wine industry in various capacities such as winemaker for a large commercial and research winery, marketing and sales manager, wine judge in national and international wine competitions, and as guest speaker at many wine industry meetings. Her depth of experience makes her uniquely qualified to assist wineries in improving wine sales and business profitability through her web-based consulting services.”
Dr. Murli Dharmadhikari, Director and Extension Enologist, Iowa State University
“The courses I took through VESTA with Patty helped me to build a better understanding of how wineries, specifically tasting rooms, function. Many of the ideas and topics that we discussed in class have been implemented into our winery from the layout of the tasting bar and retail area to the way we use social media and market our product. The class projects and reports assigned in both courses had me focus on and analyze what other wineries were doing and helped me understand how I could implement new ideas into our marketing plan. The information I learned from Patty helped to shape how our winery is currently run and provides us with a better idea as to where we are going in the future.”
Nicole Kane, 21 Brix Winery, Portland, NY