Martha M. Ezzard

Martha McElveen Ezzard, an Atlanta native, a lawyer and writer, once slept in the top of a tulip poplar, backpacked 80 miles on the Appalachian Trail, entered law school while raising three children,served in the Colorado Senate and ran for the U.S.Senate, losing the nomination by 19 votes, ---but those challenges were nothing compared to planting a fine wine vineyard on a family farm in North Georgia where sweet tea is still the drink of choice!

Ezzard was an award winning columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, following a career in politics and law in Denver. She gave it all up to help her husband, Dr.John Ezzard, save a five -generation- old 100-acre family farm near the tiny town of Tiger where he was born.

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Author statement

Hey, we shrugged off the skepticiam of old timers scoffing at our high fallutin' grapes, fought off hoards of Japanese beetles eating the grape leaves, burned smudge pots all night to fight late spring frosts, and even fended off black bears, to pioneer the first fine vinifera vineyard and winery in the North Georgia Mountains. We started in an old farm creamery building with a room air conditioner, peddled our wines out of the back of an SUV ---only to end up winning a double gold, best of class in the Los Angeles International Wine Competition in 2012. There were plenty of stresses on our marriage, but my bumpy transition from urban dweller to farm girl was often hilarious. A Tiger Food Mart biscuit and the Farm Bureau News were no substitute for my morning New York Times and vanilla latte --nope, no Starbucks in Tiger!

But my husband's soul is part of the soil and rocks at the mystical Tiger Mountain where our vineyards now thrive. John and I changed the land, but the land changed us and our relationship with each other far more.

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