Archive for the ‘Wine Education’ Category
The sticks by which we measure success and utility vary widely, don't you think? Consider wine. A wine might be considered successful or useful on a scale of 1-100 or with five stars or with a fortunately combination of adjective. You can measure a wine's success by looking at its sales or its regularly increasing price or by the number of stores or restaurants in which it is found. With nearly everything produced and nearly everyone who tries, some stick…
One is never too far from Thomas Jefferson when in Charlottesville, Virginia. His greats works surround the city in the from of Monticello and the University of Virginia. He is the city's apparent mascot and his name helps promote many an idea, service and product in this neck of the woods. But for those at the 2011 Wine Bloggers Conference Thomas Jefferson must be of great symbolic importance. Jefferson's love of wine and promotion of the beverage so early in…
What I've learned at the 2011 Wine Bloggers Conference…So Far 1. The choice of Charlottesville for the location of the conference is an inspired one. Not only is it a town filled with gracious and proud folks, but it oozes history. And for a long-time student of American history, it's actually kind of difficult to explain the thrill to walk amongst that history. 2. Jancis Robinson, the first keynote speaker at the Conference, might be unique among practiced and established…
Maybe it shouldn't be the case, but I find it far more enjoyable to look writers in the face and hear their words than to read their words remotely. This was confirmed last night when I sat in a room with a bevy of wine writers at the Wine Bloggers Conference in Charlottesville, Virginia and dined and drank and talk. The blogger face-to-face was meant, simply, to bring together a lot of interesting people and talk blogging, wine and life….
Why is it that when states and Congress consider laws and regulations concerning consumer access to wine, the actual consumers are never consulted? Producers are consulted. Restaurants are consulted. Regulators are consulted. And wholesalers are consulted. But never consumers of wine. Why? The reason is so remarkably simple: Wine Consumers don’t have a voice through which their interests can be communicated. Anyone who has ever dealt directly with issues of direct shipping of wine, wine in grocery stores, blue laws,…
