Mainly because its topic was (ready for it?) wine!
I love wine but it’s been really hard for me here, not being familiar with the grocery store staples or Best Value Bottles that I am in the States. Back home I know exactly what to look for and where, whereas here…. here they charge £8 for Gallo. Ick. In restaurants it’s much easier, but it’s also much much more expensive. There seems to be very little middle ground.
Rob from Wine Conversations and Melinda from Miss Geeky.
Apparently, I’m not alone in my wine troubles. Thank goodness Rob Macintosh from Wine Conversation was there to do a tasting of his favourites as well answer some questions about the wine business and the business of wine blogging.
There are 50,000+ wine labels out there and only four major retailers of wine in the UK. Something like 98% of wine is sold through these retailers, so it’s very hard for the labels to actually connect with the consumer. And if you’re like me on a budget here, price is a huge factor in the decision making process.
So what’s a wine maker to do? Social media, of course. But there is a problem: Unless you are in the wine business or have friends who are, you’re probably not very likely to read a wine blog.
What to do? Quite simply: find other ways to connect. I was very impressed by Rob’s Twitter competition (Tweet using #ttl and win a bottle) and incentive to win a case of wine by writing about the event (which I think most of us would do anyway!). And of course, there’s the foolproof way: give people a taste of nine delicious wines for free!
1. Vivanco Viura/Malvasia 2007, Bodegas Dinastia Vivanco from Thirst For Rioja
2. Riesling Kabinett Trocken 2007, Weingut Clauer – courtesy of Winzerblog
3. Higueruela 2007, from Sta. Quiteria – courtesy of Tintoralba
4. Dinastia Vivanco Crianza 2004, Bodegas Dinastia Vivanco – courtesy of Thirst For Rioja
5. Bellamarsilia 2007, Poggio Argentiera – courtesy of Poggio Argentiera
6. CVP 2007, La Casa de las Vides – courtesy of Casa Vides
7. Syrah 2004, Cortes de Cima – courtesy of Cortes De Cima
8. Antique Oloroso Sherry from Fernando de Castilla – courtesy of Vinos de Jerez (who also writes about sherry here)
9. Special Reserve Tawny Port, Quevedo Port – courtesy of Quevedo Port Wine
I only got to try a couple of them – it was a Tuesday after all, but if a bottle of the Higueruela showed up in my stocking, I wouldn’t be too upset.
It was a fantastic wrap-up to a fantastic Meetup Year. Looking forward to 2009!
*Photo from Melinda and Cristiano’s Flickr.
15 December, 2008 at 6:00 am
Dear Melanie,
Thank you very much for your post talking about this particular event. I really hope that you got to taste our wine – Cortes de Cima Syrah 2004 – if not and if ever travel to Portugal we would be very happy to receive you at the our winery.
Cheers!
15 December, 2008 at 6:37 am
Hi Melanie,
We are indebted to Robert for bringing our wine bloggers movement into the limelight during the recent LBM 2008. It must have taken a lot of fortitude to remain focused, and not just turn the event into a drinking party!
I beg to differ to your above comments that unless you are in the wine business you are not likely to read a wine blog. Our website and blog have been followed for years by longtime fans of our wines. Just ordinary people who like our wines, and want to know more about the real people who make them and the place where they are made (Alentejo,southern Portugal). There is no cheaper or better way for a small winery to get that message across!
PS- congratulations on your blog, it is fun reading for a fellow expat american living in europe! ;-)
15 December, 2008 at 6:21 pm
Hi Melanie,
thank you for reporting about this, I hope you enjoyed it. Thank to Robert again for organizing this.
Gianpaolo Poggioargentiera