Vineyard & Winery Management Co-Founder Bill Moffett Recovering from Injuries After Car Accident in Florida

Bill Moffett, co-founder and publisher emeritus of industry trade magazine Vineyard & Winery Management (VWM), is making progress after suffering very severe injuries in a car accident in Florida in on December 27.

A website has been set up for Moffett so that friends and industry colleagues can get updates on his progress and leave a message or two in his guestbook. The site is at www.caringbridge.org and the password is Billmoffett (one word). Messages of support from the wine industry would go a long way in helping him through his long recovery.

Three of four passengers who were in the car with Moffett during a crash were injured, including his wife Hope Merletti Moffett, but Bill Moffett was hurt the worst, suffering severe head trauma, a couple crushed vertebrae and four broken ribs. He was initially in a coma but came out of it a couple days ago and is working his way off of a ventilator. Hope Merletti spent five days in the hospital under observation before being released.

In addition to publishing VWM, located in Watkins Glen, NY and Santa Rosa, CA, the company Moffett started sponsors seminars and trade shows as well as three well-known wine competitions. Moffett was also a driving force behind creating the AAV, predecessor organization of WineAmerica--the national association for American wineries.