I was introduced to Turkey Flat by a local wine store named Corkscrewed. I thought the name was pretty clever!
Continue reading about Turkey Flat Rose 2008, $15 Summer Goodness
It seems I’m a bit late to the game on these notes, as pretty much everyone who attended the Wine Bloggers Conference has already posted their thoughts on the event. But, the positive is that it allows me to not only consolidate some great posts from others (you’ll find these at the end of this post), it also lets me live up to the description of my blog – …because what the world needs is another opinion about the Wine Bloggers Conference.
Man, I can find a rationale for pretty much anything.
Observations from the WBC09 (careful, I will ramble in spots…think “Dear diary…”):
- There is something very real to what’s going on in the blogger world. Duh, you say, seems obvious. But, really think about it. All 300 of us were in Napa for the weekend. Some of us drove, some of us flew from all over the world. At the same time, 1,500 mommy bloggers descended on Chicago. That’s about 1,800 people in one weekend voluntary spending their time and money to talk about blogging and connect with fellow bloggers. And, if you consider that a very small percentage of those people are able to make a living at it and the rest of us are just plain passionate about what we do, that makes the phenomenon even more remarkable. If anyone thinks blogging is a fad, that should let you know that we’re not going anywhere.
- We felt like a real community. Sure, we all twitter and facebook and blog and ning and delicious and technorati and digg and on and on, but when we all get in a room together and emerge as living, breathing human beings behind social marketing monikers and web images, it’s pretty cool. In the end, there’s a bit of nerd in us all, both wine nerd and technology nerd, and we had the chance to let it all hang out and be both people. For once, I didn’t feel bad about having my head buried in my iPhone at dinner and no one cared that I had to ask them what they just said (or, better yet, I could say things like “could you just twitter me with that? I’ll get to it much quicker that way.”). And, I can guarantee we had more wine tastings than they did at that other blogging conference in Chicago.
- The Napa wine community embraced us far more than I ever anticipated, with interesting panels, lunches on the lawn, vineyard walks, one-on-one conversations, interviews, tastings, tours, etc. It really was incredible. Napa gets a lot of heat for becoming what many refer to as the “Disneyland of wine,” but the people we met with and the time and interest they took in us really felt to me more like what I imagine an older, smaller, not-yet-world-stage Napa to be like. For me, that’s the best kind of wine country. Brought me back a bit to what I truly do love about the California wine country – great wine, beautiful scenery and a deep connection to those who have dedicated their lives to making it all come to life. Thank you Napa!
- We never trended on Twitter, which to be perfectly honest, was surprising to me. I’ve never seen so many people heads down in their iPhones and laptops, letting the world know real time what they thought about the event, the content, the wines we tasted, etc. Could it be that we were only talking to ourselves and those few who felt unfortunate that they didn’t attend? Oh, please say it isn’t so.
- On the bus rides back and forth and in conference rooms and at the after hours gatherings, I was able to talk to and share ideas with so many great folks (some of whom I have listed in Twitter wine folks to follow – Part II). For those of you who don’t know us as a group, I was stunned by the wealth of knowledge floating through the venues. As serious as the winemakers are about their wine, this crew brings the same passion, knowledge and intensity to their craft. As bloggers, we get mired in discussions about ethics and whether or not we’re actually providing useful and credible information to folks. But, I can tell you, when you’re in the room with 250+ people focused on their passion and a technology that fuels that passion, you can’t help but feel the power of it all. Truly incredible.
- Next year is in Walla Walla, Washington. Having lived in the Northwest for 20 years, with great in-laws living 45 minutes from Walla Walla, well, let’s just say I’m already registered for WBC10. And, it was a great idea for the organizers of the conference to put out tastings of Walla Walla wines as we wrapped up WBC09. Should be a fun and truly unique experience, particularly if you’ve never been to Walla Walla. You registered yet?
If you have or have found other interesting WBC09 stories, let me know.
Continue reading about Wine Bloggers Conference…the final word
In the world of blogging and social media, does it still make sense to send thank you cards, emails, IM’s or Twitters? Sure. But, why not thank everyone at once for an amazing weekend in Napa?
Sincere thanks to all of the following sponsors for giving us an unbelievable weekend – truly amazing and something I won’t forget for a very long time.
Organizers
Premier Sponsors
Sonoma Valley Vintners & Growers
Russian River Valley Winegrowers
Winegrowers of Dry Creek Valley
Media Sponsors
Event Sponsors
Continue reading about Wine Bloggers Conference open thank you
I know you.
You buy organic salad greens and tomatoes. And you are starting to gain interest in organic and biodynamic wines.
You inquire about where your food and wine comes from when you dine out.
You care about what you put into your body.
But what does your favorite restaurant do with your empty bottle of wine at the end of the night?
The people behind Drinking With Benefits asked that same question and got a disturbing answer.
Narisha Johnson looked around as she was having a drink at a local bar one day and wondered where the hundreds of empty glass bottles ended up.
After a little investigation, she found out that bars and restaurants in her hometown of Dallas were sending all these empties to the landfill. The local government does not supply recycling services for businesses. And the restaurants and bars saw no reason to spend extra money on a private service.
So Narisha took matters into her own hands and created a program that creates value for the restaurants, the recycling companies and of course the end consumer as well.
She created buzz for the participating venues by holding special ‘drink green’ parties. These venues are listed on her website and advertised as drink green restaurants. This allows consumers to identify and support venues that share their values.
Drinking With Benefits negotiates rates with recycling companies and acts as a third party certifier to insure these companies are truly recycling and not dumping the bottles after pickup.
What small green steps can you take in your city, your office or your favorite restaurant?
Nobu Matsuhisa, the eponymous chef that founded the internationally renowned NOBU group of Japanese restaurants visited Cape Town recently. Here he is pictured during a meal at Belthazar restaurant in the Waterfront with owners Ian Halfon and Jonothan Steyn.
Sent via my BlackBerry from Vodacom – let your email find you!
Continue reading about The best Japanese chef in the world visits Cape Town.
This past weekend in Napa, 250+ of us attended the Wine Bloggers Conference in Napa. But, it could have just as easily been called the Wine Twitterers Conference as we all nerded out on our iPhones and other handhelds at meals, at tastings, on the bus, in the vineyards…honestly, I think it’s the only time in the last year that I haven’t felt bad for picking up my iPhone at dinner or anywhere else where it wasn’t, well, just me.
Some may call Twitter a fad, a business model that eventually morphs into something else, a crazy kids thing or a completely baffling activity, but when you get a group of dedicated and passionate people collectively focusing on their object of desire, the real and virtual world start to meld into one pretty quickly. A truly unique and quirky experience.
And, so you can experience some
of the interesting folks on Twitter that were with me in Napa, here is the second in my installment of Twitter wine folks to follow (you can find Part I here – Good wine people to follow on Twitter). If you’re on Twitter and you enjoy wine, wine blogs, tasting notes, whatever, these are great people to pay attention to.
Probably forgot someone, but there can always be another list…plenty of us out there.
Continue reading about Twitter wine folks to follow – part II
2005 Bonny Doon Le Cigar Volant
2007 Tandem Manchester Ridge Chardonnay
2008 Michel Schlumberger Pinot Blanc
2007 Arrowood Cote de Lune Blanc, Saralee’s Vineyard
2007 Aveleda Alvarinho Vinho Verde
Continue reading about Wine Bloggers Conference – my top wine picks
Can’t wait to taste them.
Continue reading about Napa and St. Supery grapes on their way…
The 23rd Annual International Pinot Noir Celebration is upon us and the valley is buzzing with excited guests, press + Pinot noir producers from the US, Canada, Austria, France, Australia + New Zealand. Today we had the pleasure of a visit from Pinot noir devotee + creator of the online newsletter Pinot File, Rusty Gaffney the Prince of Pinot. We compared the 2007 and 2008 vintages and played Thomas’ favorite game “taste the terroir” by barrel sampling pommard from Anne Amie Estate Vineyards, Rainbow Ridge Vineyard + La Colina Vineyard – all at about the same elevation but different locations and soil types. Pictured above Winemaker Thomas Houseman, Viticulturist Jason Tosch, Rusty aka Prince + Sales Director Kim McLeod. Below Thomas explains the “rules of the game” and shows how his former modern dance skills come in handy while scaling…
I have written about Natural Merchants before because they import some wonderful organic and biodynamic wines from Europe.
BioKult Wein is one of those wine treasures. Amazing quality for the price and made from biodynamic grapes to boot.
The Michlits family is the largest producer of organic wines in Austria.
Still confused about the difference between organics and biodynamics?
The grapes are grown without toxic chemicals to act as pesticides and herbicides. So far so organic.
But biodynamics is also about treating your land as a whole organism , whose overall health needs to be maintained. The natural treatments used to ward off pests and to fertilize the vines should come from your own land.
Biodynamic wine does not use commercial yeasts for fermentation , instead using native or wild yeasts. BioD wines are not chemically manipulated in the cellar either, meaning they do not have added sugar or acids.
(This is where it gets tricky since there is a difference between BioD wines and wines ‘made from BioD grapes’. The latter does sometimes add sugar, acid and commercial yeasts.)
And yes, harvesting, applying treatments, etc is done according to the biodynamic calendar, much like the old farmers almanac.The Michlits have a herd of 50 Angus cattle and grow organic wheat as well.
BioKult Gruner Veltliner 2008 $14.99 (Available at Wholefoods Markets nationwide)
Light golden color with slight green hue. Aromas of peaches and even kiwis. Slight fizziness to this wine which is refreshing. Flavors of apple fritters and lemons, touch of pepper. Made with Gruner Veltliner, the most popular white wine grape in Austria.
BioKult Rose 2008 $14.99
Dark rose and ruby color. Aromas of cherries and watermelon. Beautiful acidity to keep it light and fresh. Flavors of summer raspberries. Made from Zweigelt, Austria’s #1 red grape variety.
Continue reading about From Austria with Love: Biodynamic Wines for Summer