2009 Wine Bloggers' Conference July 24 -26

Just a few weeks now until hundreds of enthusiastic wine types will converge on Santa Rosa, California for the second wine blogger conference.

This is a rare and excellent opportunity for any winery operation to see how it works and how blogging and social media can work for their operation.

As new media and social media begin to carve out their own turf in the world of information transfer (our world of ideas), wineries are beginning to make some interesting discoveries.

Like many businesses, the give and take between customer and producer in the wine world has always been present. Now with blogging and other forms of social networking, wineries and their fans can feel like they're one step closer to each other.

For some, it means they can skip the role a large media conglomerate plays. They don't have to worry about censure, interpretation or house policies. Bloggers are citizen winedrinkers who simply post their opinions about something they enjoy and, in some cases, feel very passionate about.

Wine bloggers come in many styles. Some work for wineries; helping to link the consumer directly with the producer. Some are pure reviewers; they drink the wines and post their scores and thoughts for anyone to read. Others deal with the business side whether that be growing grapes or devising clever sales campaigns.

So where do I fit in?

I've been blogging about my wine making life since about 2005. At times it's lacked focus. And it's always been haphazardly scheduled. I'd be surprised if I blog more than 3 times a month on average. Others are much more productive like this one. I think she's posted at least daily for the last half year! WTG, WannabeWino!

There are not a lot of wine maker bloggers. Some are ghosted by other writers and some wineries have other staff doing the company blogging. Until recently, I was independent. Now, of course, I blog to promote my own label Black Cloud . Despite this change, I'm still one of the laziest bloggers I know.

At the conference I hope to: find out if another platform will be better for my blogging, discuss ways to monetize the efforts, discuss collaboration projects with other bloggers, and try to determine if the knowledge I've acquired is worth anything. Or should I just leave it to the experts?

One thing I do know, it's time to engage! I urge wineries, wine marketers, wine writers and food people to attend or sent their representative. It's a great deal for the dollar, too!
Here's the link:
Wine Blogger's Conference

Heading to Kamloops, Wine in Hand.

In early February, I'll be heading to Kamloops, B.C. to talk to Township 7 fans at a couple venues and to try and present the wines to some new customers as well.

The way the schedule is starting to align, it looks like my Black Cloud 2006 Pinot Noir will make it's debut on this trip as well.

So far the schedule looks like this:

Tuesday, February 3 - 7:00 pm
Gerry O's
2900 - 30th Street
Vernon, BC
(250) 542-3333

On my way to Kamloops, I'm stopping at this great store that sells our wine in Vernon. Once a month they put on these special tastings complete with food accompaniment. I suggest you call if you want to join me and taste a selection of Township 7 wines.

Wednesday, February 4 - 7:30 pm
Kamloops Winemakers

I think this is for members only but check with me if you're in the area and I'll try and sneak you in!

Thursday, February 5 - 3:30 to ???
Lansdowne Central Liquor Store
450 Lansdowne
Kamloops

I'll be at the store for a few hours, talking with wine drinkers and pouring a nice flight of Township7 wines. Drop in and meet!

Still working on: a trade tasting for Kamloops restaurants and license holders in the city and quick trip to Sun Peaks to talk to folks there. Will try to get a day in on the slopes Friday!

Please Help Me Identify This Man

When I was in California I met this solemn creature at a bookstore. I'm the one on the left.

He implored me to purchase his book.

I did so and he proceeded to give a talk for a good part of an hour about wine and it's place in our collective lives. An excellent speaker but damn if I can remember his name.

Oh wait! Here it is. Right on the book!

Okay . . . nevermind. Got it.

Wine Leads To Criminal Activity

Is there anything more grasping and greedy than a government monopoly denied?

On my trip to California I truly enjoyed some marvelous foods and wines. Being a winemaker, I was naturally drawn to the tasting rooms and the wine lists that I encountered. Always, in the back room of my mind, there was a voice, "Even if you wanted this wine, you can't take it home."





Sure, I could actually take it home. But at the border, after clearing immigration, there would be customs. And customs is charged with collecting the cash that the government figures it is due. This is determined by whatever the provincial mark-up is on a particular product. If they don't actually have the product on their shelves then there is a formula to arrive on the 'proper' dollar figure.





"Surely," you say," you must be allowed something?" Yes, true, we are allowed something.


But no matter how long I stay, I am limited to 1.5 L of wine. That's two standard bottles. After 48 hours, I can bring $400 back in goods. But the wine volume stays the same. After 7 days, I can bring back $750 in goods. But the wine volume stays the same. It's all here in it's ridiculous splendour. If I only stay 24 hours then I have to pay the formula on everything.





The taxes, duty and mark-up or whatever euphemism you want to use is almost always in excess of 100% of your purchase price of the wine in Canadian dollars.





I have heard all the arguments for this kind of policy. Protectionism and public safety, control, maintaining the public coffers. Frankly, in this day and age, none of those tired old arguments are worth a thing.





What this policy leads to is the most elaborate and deceitful schemes by otherwise law-abiding citizens bent on getting a few extra bottles of wine or liquor back into the country. We're not talking about truckloads. We're talking about a half dozen or a case of something special, often not available at home, something that was picked up on vacation or on a business trip.





I know it may be necessary to draw the line somewhere, but this country has turned into a country of amateur smugglers. With the dollar virtually at par with its American counterpart, I imagine there's plenty of temptation.





Hell, I know there is. Here's what I had to do.





After 11 days in the U.S. I settled on 8 bottles of wine and not the 8 cases I really wanted. Sorry, U.S. wine sellers. I put two into my luggage. The other six I packaged and sent to a Washington state border town about 1 hour from my home. Good thing you can ship from California to Washington. I told the UPS guys on Sutter in San Francisco it was olive oil anyways and we all had a good laugh.





Today it arrived. My wife went and picked it up. She drove it to within 400 meters of the border and dropped in on my Mom and step Dad (Canadian citizens) at their lakeside summer place. There she gave them each two bottles and appropriate receipts. They had been stateside for 48 hours so they were entitled to two bottles free of border charges.


The other two bottles are stashed in the crawlspace of the cabin. Tomorrow my people will drive back across the line and into Canada with my wine I will meet them at the donut shop in Osoyoos before they head home. There, in the parking lot like a gathering of of criminals, I will accept the goods.





My next plan: I'm going to head south again soon. I'll stay for at least 48 hours and I'll buy two bottles of wine worth $400 together that are not available in BC. Then I'll bring them back and dispose of them as I see fit.





Tsk. Just sad behaviour I'm capable of. Almost as sad as a monopoly so fearful of revenue loss from cross border purchases that it has to impose these draconian rules on the masses. Isn't it time we used our overworked Border Service to protect our citizens from pedophiles, armed criminals and other threats to society? Isn't it time to stop searching Joe and Mary Sixpack's luggage and car for that extra bottle of White Zin?





I think so and so do a lot of my fellow Canadians.