ShanaRay.com

The second day of the Wine Bloggers Conference was the true testament of a wine bloggers stamina -After getting on the bus at 9AM from Santa Rosa, we drove all around Napa Valley (at least bus #4 did) and spent the day being educated on Napa Vintners, eating and of drinking wine (along with a bloody mary and several shots of Absinthe) for over 12 hours to come back to the Flamingo at 9PM.

We were greeted by ViniPortugal and the European Wine Bloggers Conference for another Tasting Party put together by Gabriella and Ryan Opaz of Catavino, a wine marketing company based in Spain.  Here we tasted many different types of wines from Portugal, including a bottle of Ribatejo Doc (the actual name of the brand is actually a bit confusing to me) and Oscar and @Cork_Dork even convinced me to try some port.   So here I was trying the lightest of the Portuguese wines to one of the heaviest and I was able to enjoy each in their own way (I will leave the next post to talk about tasting notes and the winery, since I do like to do my research before I aimlessly talk about the wine).

Meeting Ryan and Gabriella was one of the big highlights for many at the WBC, even if they didn’t know that until they were told.   I may not have had the chance to hang out with them for more than a few minutes each; I could tell how genuine they were.  Especially when Ryan gave away his last few bottles to me said that he was happy to give them away to someone who would truly enjoy them.  Oh, I definitely will.

Doesn’t hurt that they said I had a “brilliant smile” in their blog post about leaving the conference.

I will admit – I am a Sonoma County girl at heart.  I love Pinot Noir and a crisp Sauvignon Blanc from the Russian River Valley.  My tasting trip to Napa wasn’t a complete failure, I did find out that a Pinot Noir from the Carneros region was quite tasty (at least the one from Cuvaison Estate Wines was) and Ehlers Estate, Conn Creek and Cornerstone each had an amazing Cabernet Sauvignon (well out of my price point, but amazing nonetheless).

I will also admit that I know very little about the wine regions of Spain and Portugal and would love to expand my knowledge of these wines more than just thinking they are all about heavy reds.  Thankfully, I now have three wines from Portugal to drink and learn about, as well as many new international and cross county friends from my second day at the #WBC09.  And, possibly a trip to the European Wine Bloggers Conference in Lisbon, Portugal this fall (hint, hint), but that is a different story.  

Another year, another Wine Bloggers Conference has come and gone…  And instead of talking about the wine, the amazing people, the lack of (some) winery knowledge on social media and wine blogging, the divide in wine bloggers and the people “observing” or the bus sing-a-long / Absinthe trip (thanks again to the rowdy Mutineer Magazine boys, Russ the Winehiker, El Jefe Twisted, Rob Bralow, Thea the Wine Brat and Miss Wenchie for proving some LOUD non-wine fun), I wanted to talk about the one session that inspired me the most.

Sunday’s panel Beyond Words: How Video Content is Changing the Wine World with Bob Asher, Lisa M. deBruin, Hardy Wallace, and John McWeeny which was sponsored by the Winegrowers of Dry Creek Valley was the educational highlight of the conference for me.

Each of the panelists had a different perspective of the world of online video and each has equally interesting tips on how to integrate video into the social media landscape.

Hardy first talked about how easy it is to jump in and get started with simple tools like a Flip Video camera and some editing software on your computer (even better if you get a new laptop with a web camera and this software already built in).

“I have 0 talent and 0 skills, but video content is the total future.  If you are not doing video, you are not on the edge.   Video appeals more to non-wine people….. People might think, I don’t want to reach Wine Spectator or a blog, but hey, maybe I will check that 55 second video out”

Lisa came out stating that she was going to be a Buzz Kill – “Hardy makes it look easy… He is talented even if he says he is not…. And if you are a brand and want to use video to show off your winery, it really is not that easy… The tools make it easy, but to create good content is, you need to know what you are doing.”

She suggested that we need to do our research on what other are doing.  Skipping through the vineyards with classical music is a cliché and it has been done.

She also reminded us that brands already have a story to tell through video — Through fun events, new wine releases, good personalities, good customers (all possible talented camera friendly people) all stories that wineries have going for them. There is also no formula for viral.

“Let subjects lead and pull the story.”

Hardy’s final words were that no one started off a “good” blogger – They just jumped into writing and developed their audience and skills over time.  His advice to people is to not just sit there and wait till your videos are good, don’t hold yourself back… Get comments and feedback and put yourself out there.   Practice makes perfect.

So inspiration kicked in and I decided to create my very first video below.

Cheers to seeing you all next year in Walla Walla.

*shana.

As I sit here and think about where I want to go with my post(s) about this past weekend at the Wine Bloggers Conference, I keep going back to some of the images that I took over the last three days (yes, when I remembered to bring my camera) and reminiscing on how great it was to meet wine peeps I have only talked to on twitter or facebook.

Though there is one SPECIFIC picture that I was asked not to show anyone, but all the rest are up and viewable on my Flickr stream.

A couple favorites:

Soon after everyone else gets home and sobers up, I am sure there will be many more.   Click on this one from Brittney from WineQ (aka Wine QT) so see the power of Twitter.  As of 11/5 this image has over 340 unique views!

Altogether, a great networking and educational conference (i.e., A SUCCESS).

It is all about the First Annual Wine Blogging Conference this weekend. The entire Flamingo Hotel in Santa Rosa will be taken over by some of the best professional wine lushes in America.

My dumb ass was too much of a procrastinator when it came to actually purchasing a ticket so I wasn’t able to buy one before it sold out. Thankfully, I am now helping out with the CIA’s Blind Tasting Challenge so I am now able to get in! Whoo hoo.

The best part of the event: meeting all of the people I talk to on Twitter on a daily or weekly basis, including @winebratsf (whom I have already met and already know she kicks ass) of Vinquire and Luscious Lushes Wine Blog, @Sondara of WannabeWino, @DrXeNo of WineLog Blog, @smellslikegrape of Smells Like Grape Wine Blog and those are just the ones I talked to today…  There will be many, many others that would take me all night to write down.

Any wine bloggers reading this right now: I will be the one handing out Scharffen Berger chocolate, so look for me at the event!

More about the event next week, for now I leave you with a quote from everyone’s favorite internet wine geek, Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library TV.

“People are always talking about what you’re doing now… To me, it’s not what you’re doing now, it’s about where you’re going.”