Most books have a burst of NBE (new book energy) if they’re lucky, and then quietly fade, no longer promoted, onto bookshop shelves, and eventually off them.
Stalin’s Wine Cellar just keeps on keeping on.
Six years after its release, the book I wrote with John Baker – telling the amazing story of John and Kevin Hopko travelling to Tbilisi, in the then-newly independent republic of Georgia, in search of a fabled wine cellar – is gathering more steam, not less.
The first big news is that we can reveal the book has been optioned by Beyond Productions and IPG Media for development as a potential TV series. It’s been a while since I worked in television or film, so it has been so much fun revisiting that medium. As a TV baby – my parents met at the start up of HSV7 Melbourne – on-screen storytelling remains a joy whenever I have a chance to do it.
As though the development deal wasn’t enough, Stalin’s Wine Cellar has also been selected for the official “Australian Collective” stand at the Frankfurt Book Fair – or the Frankfurter Buchmesse, to use its real name – from October 6.
A recent development in Tbilisi, where the Georgian government announced it was unsealing the cellar to potentially sell 40,000 bottles of vintage French and Georgian wines, has renewed interest in the Savane No. 1 winery, and our book, along with ongoing word of mouth and steady sales.
To be chosen for Frankfurt after all this time is a rare honour and will hopefully lead to even more overseas sales.
I’m going in search of a good bottle of wine and a glass, right now. Santé.
Nick Place: creative 