WBC09: It's here! Well, the Twisted Pre-Party, Anyway!

WBC09 DesktopThe 2nd Annual North American Wine Bloggers' Conference is almost here, starting tomorrow! It is again at the Flamingo in Santa Rosa, CA, deep in the Sonoma Valley. Last year's inaugural conference exploded the reach and understanding of wine bloggers, wine & social media and their effect on the wine biz. It also had a profound effect on myself and my own understanding of social media, blogs and wine. Starting things off, however is a pre-party at Twisted Oak and downtown Murphy's, courtesy of that crazy vinoman, El Jefe, Jeff Stai (Twitter)!

Santa Lucia Highlands "Highlands' Fling!"

Santa Lucia Highlands "Highlands' Fling Gala"A few weeks back, I was treated to an enlightening appellation-specific tasting of Santa Lucia Highlands wines courtesy of the host, Hahn Family Wines. Santa Lucia Highlands sit on the southeast facing slopes of the Santa Lucia mountain range, on one side of the plentiful Salinas Valley. I made the somewhat significant trek down there with my trusty vinopanions, the Brix Chicks' Liza (Twitter) and Xandria (Twitter). I hadn't been down in the area since I was but a wee lad, noshing with me folks, so it was a treat to see the Valley again. It was in all of its late Spring splendor and we enjoyed taking in the bountiful scents of the fruits and vegetables growing near the highway.

ACME Atelier Tasting: An Assembly of All-Stars

ACME Fine WineA little while back I was given the chance to attend a very special gathering of established winemaker luminaries and taste a whole slew of outstanding wines, courtesy of a very gracious invite by Monica Collins of All Access Napa Valley. I've never seen such a lineup of All-Star winemakers, nor the chance to have such access to speak with those that make or have made famous wines such as Kamen, Screaming Eagle, Scarecrow, The Prisoner, Rocca Family and L'Angevin. The event was held at the innovative ACME Fine Wines in St. Helena. Ever since opening their doors in April of '03, co-owners and organizers of this event Karen Williams and David Stevens have consistently reinvented the wine retail, storage and event industries. Their efforts have been noticed by numerous newspapers and wine writers.

5 Questions with Lisa Rigisich of Pinot Days SF

Pinot Days San Francisc0 2009Another exciting wine festival is coming to Fort Mason this month and I'm very excited to have to have the opportunity to get the inside scoop from the festival Director. Pinot Days San Francisco crushes SF with five days of great, varietally-correct Pinot Noir festivities, starting on June 24th. Lisa Rigisich, together with husband Steve and partners Eric and Teri White are bringing over 200 Pinot Noir producer and vendors of the delicate grape to Fort Mason in San Francisco on Sunday June 28th for the finale Grand Festival Public Tasting, where I will be delighted with the outstanding array of tasty Pinot available to taste!

Be Goode, but Vote Dirty!

A Really Goode Job - Murphy-GoodeMaking perhaps, one of the biggest viral marketing coups in the nascent wine social mediasphere, Murphy-Goode Winery in Healdsburg has blown up the interwebs with its A Really Goode Job search and marketing campaign. The basics are these: - Live on the property in northern Sonoma Valley in Healdsburg in a private home. - Work by using all means of social media to promote Murphy-Goode and its wine and the whole of Sonoma County with the provided camera video camera, handheld device and/or smartphone. You'll "need" to taste hundreds of wines for free and eat all over the Valley, as well...shucks. - Get paid 10K/month for a 6 month contract.
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