Wine Bloggers Conference '16 - Day Three & Four
Is it already over? Hard to believe isn't it. I had every intention of writing this post Saturday night but then there was an after party and then there was recovering from the most awesome conference I've ever been to.
Saturday morning was filled with courses on Social Media but the true star was 'da bear. He was sporting some swag by Do Good Distillery. After exploring Lodi on my own for lunch I returned for a guided tasting of Wines from Alsace with May from In the Grape. I've always appreciated Pinot Gris from the region but it was exciting to delve into the history and soil types. It gave me a much deeper understanding of the wine than I had before.
The afternoon had a speed tasting of red wines. It was set up exactly the same as the white wine speed tasting from Day Two. I'll have a separate post about the 20+ wines that I tasted in less than two hours combined. In the afternoon there was a great course on turning your passion into profit. It was moderated by Randy Caparoso with Jameson Fink, Debra Meiburg MW, and Deborah Parker Wong speaking. It was inspiring to see the different paths these wine experts took to get where they are now.
The evening wrapped up with another amazing dinner, this time I was honored to speak with Joe Lange of Lange Twins Winery and to drink specially selected wines to go with our meal including their Gewürztraminer and Centennial Zinfandel. Speaking with and sharing a meal with a winemaker gives you such an intimate view into a wine. I'm honored that I had this opportunity twice during the conference. It was also great to spend time with some fellow like Nick from First Pour Wine.
The final day had an incredible session with Sean and Mary from Ember and Vine. They spoke on how to engage not just with your audience but with your fellow bloggers as well. The last event of the conference was people explaining what their blogs are. I met more amazing people then I could have ever imagined. Some of those include Julie from Wine-n-Friends, Julia Coney, Rob from Odd Bacchus, Josh of Josh Likes Wine, Tom of Wino 101, Christine of Girls Go Grape, Chris of Paso's Best Wines, Anatoli of Talk-A-Vino, and Demetra of Boozy Life. I'm sure I missed some people because I met so many but there is always next year.
