The reach and influence of wine bloggers and wine social media mavens have exploded over the last couple of years, particularly in the last 12 months. Major wine critics have
have noticed and responded,
wineries and all three tiers of the wine business oligarchy have also taken notice and begun to capitalize on that influence (or are already playing catchup). The recent exhaustive and outstanding industry whitepaper by
VinTank,
Wine & Social Media is the first to encapsulate and quantify this influence and serves as a very important reference for these interactions between wine business, their consumers and the
key social media mediators (human and software/websites) of these connections. It is a groundbreaking accomplishment and a signpost of the rapid, continuing maturity of the wine social media sphere.
Last year in late November, I had the very fortunate opportunity to attend the 2010 Inductee Luncheon for the Vintners Hall of Fame at The Culinary Institute of America, Greystone in St. Helena. CIA Greystone is the premiere college for the culinary arts, with the main campus at Hyde Park, New York. They also have additional campuses in San Antonio, Texas and in the imposing former Christian Brothers stone building in St. Helena, California. It is here at Greystone that they have converted the old winery Barrel Room into a an impressive showcase of the many men and women that have shaped the wine industry in America.