Thursday April 2^nd was the Wine 2.0 Expo at Crushpad in San Francisco.  It was my second encounter with the Wine 2.0 guys (the first was at ZAP) and my first time at Crushpad and it was a blast.  Being a newbie to the wine event scene, I had no idea that Crushpad was a huge warehouse that can hold over a thousand people. I was amazed at that the room was to hold over 800 wine/technology loving people. The expo was held to showcase some of the “emerging companies and wineries that are reinventing how wine is made, marketed or sold.”  This included many different wineries, mostly from Sonoma, Napa and Paso Robles, a few wine tech companies and one innovative chocolate company.  Cornelius Geary, CEO of Wine 2.0 even gave me the official Wine 2.0 Flip camera to videotape part of the evening…  More info and maybe even a video to come about my highlights of this event.

Taken from Wine 2.0’s Facebook page.

Saturday April 4^th was Bloggers Day at St. Supery winery in Rutherford, Ca.  Wine bloggers from all around the Bay Area visited the winery for some wine, food and of course some socializing.  Going into this day not knowing anything about the winery, it was definitely nice to get a guided tour of some of the vineyards from their Vineyard Manager, Josh Anstey.  Everything from the croissant (and bacon) pairing with the Sauvignon Blanc to the wine tasting upstairs to the lunch under the oak tree out in front was just perfect.  I left with a better feeling about this Napa winery (yes, I am a Sonoma County girl with a deep passion for her home county).  I was given few parting gifts and much more is to be said about this day, so look for more info soon.

The St. Supery team and the wine bloggers.

To top this weekend off on Sunday April 5^th was maybe the most exciting event of the three.  I was able to participate in the Passion for Pinot Summit, an all day pinot event put on by Barbara Drady of the Affairs of the Vine.  Thea Dwelle (aka @winebratsf) invited me to be one of the blogging judges of this blind pinot noir tasting.  Me, a judge in a pinot tasting…  Could life get any better?  The top 44 pinot noirs from all over the world, chosen in a previous blind tasting from a professional tasting panel (more about Blind Tastings in another posting to come) were covered up and assigned colors.  Over 300 guests, writers, bloggers and industry professionals tasted and chose their top favorites.  The winners can be found on Barbara’s blog post about the event.  My observations on the type of pinot noir’s that I gravitated to are coming up in another blog post as well.

I lushed it up this past weekend and I wouldn’t want my life to be any other way….

Back when I was working on the Clos du Bois campaign in 2007 (see some of my work here) I did extensive research on Millennial’s and their wine consumption habits, coming to the consultation that if you do not have at least a portion of your Marketing Plan that talks to the younger generation then you are missing out on the big picture.

While we may not all be purchasing ultra-premium wines and joining in on high end wine club memberships, we are wanting to learn about wine and are a very passionate and social group.

We have left the toga parties in our past (some of us) and are going to and throwing dinner parties where bringing a bottle of wine and a knowledge of what to pair it with is in full regard.  We have grown up with advertising, so flashy gimmicks that I mentioned above are not the way to win us over.   We are eager to learn more, but of course we want our teachings to be fun and informative.

I don’t want to say that wineries must cater to us, but there are some things that you could do to embrace a younger generation (as well as others you may be trading down during this recession).  Lisa de Bruin had started with some good ideas of how wineries could work with wine bloggers and I think that same thinking could be applied to the Millennial generation:

Maybe a lower end wine club with deals for those entering in to their first wine club membership?

****Or maybe just a deal for one wine blogging Millennial who has not found the right Wine Club to be a part of*****

Picture taken by Em Mota.

Or a social media strategy that gets your consumers active in contests and promotions of your wine?  *Cheers to Twisted Oak Winery and El Jefe for showing us that wine can be a lot of fun

I believe that the brands that acknowledge Millennials will have a great long term strategy.

The Zinquisition said it best in the blog post about the Press Democrat’s atricle on how us Millennial’s seemed to ruin the Barrel Tasting for some older visitors, in Madcap Millennials Long Live the Queen

“Think how far your marketing dollars go when the crowd gathers at your winery and HAS A GOOD TIME and then spreads the word via their own circle of friends electronically!”

We made the stops in Dry Creek Valley at the usual suspects, including Truett Hurst, Papapietro Perry, Kokomo Winery and Michel-Schlumberger.  My non-wino friends had a great time at all of my favorite wineries, laughing at the glasses from TH or loving the mystery barrel (and winemakers) at Kokomo and especially the photoshoot in the rows of barrel at MS.  They all loved the wine too, thus cementing each winery into my winery hall of fame (to be mentioned at a later date).

The one thing all four of my favorites have in common (other than the Dry Creek location) is that each winery has their own style of Pinot Noir.  All delicious in their own way, but all very different with wines that range from lighter fruity flavors like the 2005 Pinot Noir from MS to the robust raspberry flavor of the Pinots at PP (specifically the Elsbree Vineyards).

Pinot has been my one true wine love for some time.  It wasn’t until I discovered this varietal that I started drinking and loving wine.  After years of living in Oceanside, Ca and having a roommate that would always drink heavy Zins from Ravenswood, I discovered the joy of a lighter wine in the La Creama 2003 Pinot.  Of course the movie Sideways came out a few years later and I couldn’t order a glass of wine without someone asking me about that movie.  Five years later, this wine has grown in popularity and the amount of vineyards growing this grape just keeps on getting larger.  This only fuels my love for this grape.

The two Sonoma County appellations that grow some of the best (IMO) grapes are the Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast.  The fog provides the perfect blanket for these demanding grapes.

Saturday night was the second “big event.”  My first ever Twitter Taste Live where I would be able to stream live with Matt from A Good Time with Wine on the #TTL website trying none-other than my favorite wines….  Yes, it was a Passion for Pinot night on #TTL.

About 15 wine bloggers met up at Palette Art Café in Healdsburg (Great food and FREE WIFI), socialized, ate some dinner and drank many different Pinots.   Unfortunately after a long day of Barrel Tasting and a stolen iPhone, I had to leave early (I am so sorry I wasn’t able to stay).

Sunday morning I was up and ready to tackle my very last day of Barrel Tasting.  This time I was caffeined up and excited to hit some new wineries in the Russian River Valley.  I met up with Danelle (aka @daynell), fellow wine bloggers (see above) and Samantha Vega from 101.7 The Fox (aka @1017TheFox) at Joseph Swan.  Here we tried some pretty good samples of Zins.  After leaving, Danelle, Samantha and I got lost for the rest of the group…  And with no cell reception and an apparent lack of knowledge of the area, we ended up not being able to find Olivet Road to meet up with the posse.

This adventure led us to Westside Road where we passed by two friends of mine who were frantically waving at the passing cars, trying to persuade people to visit the Thomas George Estates (formally the Davis Bynum tasting room).  Of course, I had to stop.

Here we sampled two delicious Pinots.  One where I am coming out and saying was the best (in the barrel) Pinot Noir I had all weekend. – This was an 2008 Lancel Creek Russian Rover Valley Pinot.  A perfect blend of strawberries with a hint of cherry. It wasn’t too dark or too light… I guess I would have to call it “just right.”  It even paired perfectly with my vegetarian tamale that they were serving.

This new winery is definitely worth checking out.  Their tasting room currently pours several different Pinots, reminding any visitor that the Russian River appellation is a great place to visit and drink some great Pinot Noir.

It started off normal enough.  I met up with Thea at a new winery in the Russian River Valley called Copain Wines (aka @Copain).

The Copain tasting room is located on top of a hill on Eastside Road, directly across from the recreation park.  It is the only winery that I know of that is on that stretch of the road, so people will most likely only visit through word of mouth or because they were simply driving past it.  I only heard about it because they recently joined Twitter.

This posting is my attempt to start the word of mouth on this place (actually I mean continue the WOM) and let people know that if they want to taste some great Anderson Valley pinots, a Russian River GSM blend and a place to have a picnic and enjoy THE BEST VIEW from a winery   -   Then they should make sure to stop on by the Copain tasting room.

When Thea finally got bored with me taking pictures of the view, we headed over to Mill Creek Winery.  I am not going to waste my time to write much about this place because it was neither good nor bad.  It was  nothing worth going back for IMO.

The next stop: Michel-Schlumberger (aka @M_Schlumberger) to visit Judd Wallenbrock, the President, General Manager and head blogger at their award winning blog – The Benchland Blog.  Judd and crew have seemed to perfect the art of barrel tasting weekend. Visitors are instantly greeted by Judd and given an explanation of where you should go and a brief history of the winery.  Then guests travel through the cellar to taste out of the barrels, then into the next room to try already bottled wines, then lastly into their main tasting room.  This is where my friend Joe(y) poured us some wines that go back to 1989.  Of course Thea and I had to purchase the last case of 2001 Dry Creek Valley Pinot Noir (yes, I said it… There is one winery that does make Dry Creek Pinot).  After trying some aged Pinots and Cabs, we made out way into the wine club members tasting room and ended up drinking more Pinot on a picnic bench while discussing wine, social media and Judd’s new discovery of TwitPic.

Then we were onto Mounts Family Winery (aka @MountsFamWinery).  It is off the same beaten road as Michel-Schlumberger, in the middle of a vineyard.  Blink on West Dry Creek road and you will miss it.  But this is a small family winery that you shouldn’t miss out on.  Lana greets her visitors with a smile that let’s you know she is committed to customer service. Their Malbec out of the barrel was very tasty as well.

Around 4:30, a half hour after the official ending time of the event, Thea and I decided that we were most certainly not done yet.  If you know anything about Thea and me, you know that to be the truth.  We headed over to harass Jim at Truett Hurst once again.   Here we tried some Petit Verdot and talked Jim’s ear off for an hour or so.

All together a perfect day, regardless of the fact that we were wine-napped by Judd and strayed WAY off our agenda….  Oh, wait… There is always next weekend.

Barrel Tasting weekend is a true celebration of spring in Wine Country: the mustard flowers are in full bloom, the sun is usually out for the first time and tourists & locals are running around in short sleeved shirts with red stained teeth.  It is the first event of the year that the wineries roll out the barrels and open up their cellars to the sunlight.

Thea Dwelle, her mother and I headed out into the wilds of the Sonoma County wine roads with an agenda:

1. To show Thea’s mom some of her favorite wines and wine people.
2. To visit new wineries we haven’t been to.
3. To visit our Winery Twitter friends.

Dry Creek Wineries: Papapietro Perry, Kokomo, Peterson, Truett Hurst (aka @truetthurst) and Sbragia.

Saturday morning was spent visiting some favorites including, Papapietro Perry, Kokomo, and Truett Hurst.  All the barrel samples from these favorites did not disappoint.  Kokomo Winery even had a delicious special “Mystery Sample” for visitors to guess the varietal.  Winemaker, Erik Olsen even gave us a clue (a Bordeaux variety). Thea did eventually get it.  If you really want to know the varietal, ask me in the comments.

Jim Morris at Truett Hurst made us laugh with his “X-Ray” glasses (aka polarized lenses to look into the creek for salmon), feed us some tri-tip and let us try some of their own zinfandels.

We also visited Sbragia where they seemed to not have enough people working to handle the massive amounts of people visiting the winery.  We tried some unmemorable Zin and left.

Alexander Valley Wineries: Route 128, Jimtown (for lunch) Hawkes Wine’s (aka @hawkeswine) and Stuhlmuller.

Route 128 is a newly opened tasting room in downtown Geyserville. They are still very small so they were not participating in Barrel Tasting, but they poured some pinot for us anyways.

The folks from Sonoma County Tourism Bureau (aka @InsideSonoma) suggested a pairing of Jimtown General Store’s infamous chocolate pudding with one of Hawkes Wine’s Cabernets.  The pairing did not disappoint. The 2007 Pyramid Cabernet Sauvignon went perfectly with the rich chocolate pudding. Good thing the two are right next to each other.

Healdsburg Wineries: Newly opened Hudson Street Wineries (Bluenose, Owl Ridge, Teira, Windsor Vineyards, etc), Holdredge, Camilla (where @Cellardiva was pouring), Sapphire Hill.

These wineries are all smaller with limited cases and I would have to say, I was not as impressed with them. It was the end of the day when we stopped by here, so my experience could have been a bit jaded because of the massive amounts of people.  I would like to stop by Camilla and Sapphire Hill again.

Altogether, I couldn’t have asked for a better Saturday to spend wine tasting to experience some old favorites and new adventures.

Look for tweets with the hastag #barreltasting next weekend!  And, of course, please follow me at @ShaRayRay on twitter!

Whatever my reasoning, there are a few things I am looking forward to as we move onto early Spring (it always feels as if Spring starts early here).

This past Wednesday I visited  Napa for a presentation given by Paul Mabray of Vintank, a new Wine Marketing Think Tank.  Here he discussed their introductory project, a social media report about the state of the online wine industry.  I am looking forward to seeing the study when it comes out at the end of the month (okay, this may not be a physical event YET, but it is social media — so it is an event in my eyes).

Mr. Healdsburg is one of the best annual events in our little town.  The event is at the Raven Theater on Saturday February 28th (yes, one week from today).

Start Time: 8pm, doors 7pm
Adults: $25 advance, $30 door – 21 and older only!

Guys from all ages, occupations and popularity participate in a beauty pageant to win the title of Mr. Healdsburg.   It is a great event that the whole town gets a little kooky for.   Be warned – the bars tend to have huge crowds of people after the show!  This year will also be the first that my friend, Samantha Vega, DJ at 101.7  The Fox, will be hosting.

Barn Diva, an amazing restaurant and cocktail lounge just started up Healdsburg’s only dance scene.  Every Friday night (if everyone is behaved) they will be pushing back the tables and playing some great music.  Perfect place to dance, eat some late night food and enjoy great drink specials with your friends.  When it gets a bit warmer and dryer,  they have a gorgeous back patio that will provide more room to play.

Here is a shot of the bar taken from last week’s event.  As you can see, my Twisted rubber chicken is always around.

Now onto the event that in my eyes seems to trumpet over all — Yes it is the Annual Barrel Tasting weekend here in Healdsburg.  For two, count them, TWO whole weekends in March, visitor’s and locals alike will be able to visit all the wineries in Dry Creek, Alexander Valley and the Russian River valley and try samples of wine, straight out of the barrels.

This give wineries the advantage of selling their wines before they are even released.  Though the wine fairly ever tastes the same six months later — It is a great way to get to know the people who make the wine and have some fun.

Okay, before this post gets too long and you get bored with me (like that is even a possibility) I will say  that this event is March 7-8 & 14-15 from 11 am – 4 pm each day.  The price is $20 PER weekend.

Online tickets will be sold January 23 through March 1 for $20 per person.  At the door, the price will be $30 per person.

Since this is one of my favorite events — Be on the lookout for a few more postings before, possibly during and definitely after the event.

I will also be visiting San Fransisco for two social media events at the end of March — The Wine 2.0 and Web 2.0 Expo’s are ironically (or intentionally) planned at the same time.