2009 Wine Blogger Conference is a Big Success
Vineyards walks at Montemaggiore Vineyards in Dry Creek Valley at the Wine Blogger Conference
The 2009 Wine Blogger Conference was just hosted in Sonoma County in its second year. More than 275 wine bloggers from across the U.S., Europe and New Zealand attended the three-day event. It was comprised of tastings, seminars, winery visits and vineyard walks. The Sonoma County Winegrape Commission and Sonoma County Vintners sponsored the opening lunch and Sonoma County Grand Tasting while Sonoma County Tourism and Sonoma Valley Vintners and Growers presented the Friday dinner.
The conference began with an overview of Sonoma County and its AVAs by Chris Sawyer, sommelier at Carneros Bistro at the Lodge at Sonoma. This was followed by live blogging featuring more than 20 wineries where winemakers went from table to table and shared their stories and wines (very much like speed dating). It was a terrific way to meet winemakers from all of California and taste their wines. Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon Vineyard was there and it was great to see him. What a cool person who has helped made wine fun for all!
The Sonoma Grand Tasting was then held by the pool at the host Flamingo Hotel and 36 wineries poured their wines served with a fine selection of Sonoma County cheeses prepared by Chef/Owner Bruce Riezenman of Park Avenue Catering. Some of the wineries included Paul Hobbs, Skipstone, Quivira and Murphy Goode, with its new media ambassador, Hardy Wallace, winner of the “Really Goode Job” national contest.
Speaking of this promotion, at the dinner that night the wine bloggers went wild when Tim Zahner from the Sonoma Tourism Bureau previewed his new video, “A Fairly Decent Jobbe.”
After dinner, several top Russian River Valley wineries poured at an intimate wine and dessert tasting.
Saturday was Napa day. It started at the Culinary Institute of America where Barry Schuler, former CEO of America Online, provided an amusing history of the media and how bloggers are now reshaping this world. Today, Barry is in the venture capital business and with his wife Tracy co-own Meteor Vineyard, located in the Coombsville region of the Napa Valley, with noted winemakers Bill and Dawnine Dyer.
There were then visits to various wineries for lunch and dinner with a Grand Napa tasting at Quintesssa in the late afternoon. For a nightcap, there was a tasting of Portugese wines at the Flamingo.
Sunday was full of nuts and bolts seminars on wine blogging for wineries and individuals. Then there were several Sonoma County vineyard walks for the participants.
Overall, I attended the conference and was amazed at the energy and how serious wine bloggers are about wine and learning all they can about it. I think both Sonoma and Napa did a wonderful job of showcasing these important California wine regions.
A toast to Zephyr Adventures and the Open Wine Consortium for producing a terrific conference.
Next year, the Wine Blogger Conference will be held on June 25-27 in Walla Walla, Washington.
