About (Accolades & What-Have-You)
Welcome to the first English-language on-line wine resource created specifically for Intermediate wine lovers. Hi. My name is Joe, and I am the Dude behind this one-person wine-writing outfit (hence the name); there’s no list of contributing editors, frequent guest authors, board of directors, or evil overlords – just little ol’ me. I am deeply, madly in love with wine (that makes keeping up with the tasting regimen a bit easier). That love drove me to create this website in 2007, when I noticed that no wine websites or wine books seemed to service what I was at that time – not a newbie to wine, but not a card-carrying Sommelier, either – an Intermediate wine lover.
1WineDude.com was created to provide “edu-tainment” for Intermediate wine lovers everywhere (but wine lovers of all shapes, sizes, backgrounds and levels of knowledge are also welcome). You can read more about all of that below. If you’re a PR or media type there’s some info for you at the bottom of the page. Whoever you are, I’m glad that you’re here!
“Now this here story I’m about to unfold…” (How This All Got Started)
There’s a big problem with the wine world today. Most of the wine world is trying to tell you that in order to appreciate wine, you need to spend a ton of money, memorize wine rating scores from people that you don’t know, and learn names that you can’t even spell let alone pronounce – in other words, there’s a “proper” way to do wine, and if you don’t follow it you will look like an uncultured idiot.
The problem is that they’re wrong. There is no “right” way. You don’t need to do any of those things to appreciate wine.
This award-winning blog is trying to help solve that problem.
Author Joe Roberts, CSW knows how to solve this problem, because he did it himself.
Joe used to be a total wine dunce. He is now a wine consultant and musician in the greater Philadelphia area. Joe holds the Level 2 (Intermediate, with Distinction) and Level 3 (Advanced, with Merit) Certificates in Wine & Spirits from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) in England. He’s a member of the U.S.-based Society of Wine Educators, holding their Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW) qualification. He also holds the Wine Location Specialist (WLS) qualification from the Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne (CIVC) and the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e Porto (IVDP), and is a member of the Wine Century Club (but that last one’s just for geeky bragging rights, really).
“I like your style, Dude…” (Praise for 1WineDude)
| IntoWine.com’s 100 Most Influential People in the U.S. Wine Industry 2012 (#14 – seriously? wtf?) Finalist: Best Overall Wine Blog – 2011 Wine Blog Awards Winner: Best Overall Wine Blog – 2010 Wine Blog Awards Best Wine Tourism Feature Runner Up – 2010 Born Digital Awards Winner: Best Wine Blog – 2009 Foodbuzz.com Blog Awards Top 10 Wine Blogs 2009 - PostRank.com Top 3 Wine Blogs – Wine Enthusiast Top 100 Wine Blogs - alawine.com Top 100 Wine Tweeters - alawine.com MyMediaInfo’s Top 10 Wine Experts on Twitter (#1) – mymediainfo.com Top 10 Most Influential Wine Bloggers On Twitter - cision.com Best Wine Blogs – Most Wanted’s 100 Essential Blogs “A great blog. Joe’s an original.” - Gary Vaynerchuk (Best-Selling Author & Founder of WineLibrary.TV & DailyGrape.com) “Joe Roberts… represents the new guard in online wine writing. He’s funny, likable and accessible with a nontraditional wine point-of-view and a palate that is garnering respect.” – Forbes.com “Consistently stunning writing.” - Deb Harkness, Best-selling author of A Discovery Of Witches “A great writer… 1WineDude is my favorite wine blog.” - Mark Oldman, award-winning author, wine educator and host of PBS’s series The Winemakers. “A Robin Hood of sorts in the exclusive world of vineyards and corkings and oaky undertones, Roberts wants to help spread the wine love to the masses – and keep things fun at the same time.” – The Urban Grocer “Quick-witted and charming, Joe Roberts offers candid takes on wine news tidbits, impromptu tasting tweets and entertaining bottle reviews.” – Imbibe Magazine “Hip, occasionally irreverent, friendly, and easily digestible wine commentary and recommendations are the forte of of young Joe Robert, whose infectious enthusiasm virtually bubbles off the screen… He is rapidly being recognized as one of the voices most likely to go from unpaid writer of blogs to important member of the wine-writing profession.” - The New Connoisseurs’ Guidebook to California Wine & Wineries “He pulls no punches, but he knows his subject, has enough self-deprecating humor to leaven the barbs and is quickly becoming an unofficial spokesman for the millennial blogger community. Always entertaining, often provocative.” - Seattle Times “Joe Roberts wants you to learn all there is to know about wine, and he’ll do so through his funny yet informational blog.” – Washington Flyer “Although there may be a science to making wine, a lot of people are trying to tell you that it’s not a science to enjoy it. Joe is breaking it down for us and bringing the fun back into wines. This is a great place for any burgeoning wine connoisseur (even if you don’t want to call yourself that)” – Drink Me Magazine “We love wine (really, who doesn’t?). We’ve been to Napa, and we can tell a Merlot from a Cab. But still, like so many others, it still intimidates the Shiraz out of us. That’s why we love 1WineDude.” – SacBee.com “A great writer. One of the best wine bloggers.” – Steve Heimoff (Wine Enthusiast) “1WineDude is one of those blogs you want to check every day, because the day that you miss will be the day Roberts drops the kind of blog that can draw 100+ comments creating a digital melee of wit and wisdom.” - Mutineer Magazine “Joe Roberts is smart, often clever, funny, unusually insightful, and always interesting to read.” – TwiTip.com’s “THE Must-Follow Wine People on Twitter” “Joe Roberts is serious about wine, but he doesn’t expect you to be. He wants you to appreciate wine, but he doesn’t want you to have to pass a test about it.” – VeryBestSites.com’s Best Wine Review Sites “…God-awful blog…” – Wine Spectator Forums “Don’t expect to find a dry, stuffy post in the bunch…Definitely a blog to check out if you are looking to expand your “wine skills” without all the boring drudgery that can sometimes come along as part of the package.” – WineRackStore.com’s Best Wine Blogs On the Web “Joe helps to demystify the topic of wine through his lucid, accessible style of writing.” – Hello Vino “OUTSTANDING!! The rocking, laid back attitude is a MUST for this biz.” - Craig Drollett (founder of Twitter Taste Live!) “An A+ wine blog.” – WCDish.com “Joe Roberts, for many in the wine blogging world, is simply 1WineDude. He writes with comedic flair and intimacy. He reviews wines and wine trends, then makes us feel as though we know exactly what he means. His posts come with genuine wit and we don’t come away from his writing feeling adorned with polite, formal bullsh*t.” – Sacre Bleu Wine “…there are new generations of wine heroes and evangelists like Gary Vaynerchuk, Joe Roberts, Jeff Lefevere, Alder Yarrow… that millions of consumers and professionals alike tune into every day.” – Tim Hanni, MW / Huffington Post “Graduated beyond wine 101? Three pieces of good news for you: everything is more interesting from here, it’s more about enjoyment than dissection (i.e., to really “learn” about this stuff, you have to swallow more than you spit) AND there’s a wine blog [1WineDude] just for you.” – The Buzz Bin |
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“A way out east there was a fella…” (More About Joe)
Joe has contributed to or been mentioned in the L.A. Times, New York Times, CNBC.com, Mutineer Magazine, Publix® Grape Magazine, Palate Press, Mint.com, Wines.com, Table Matters, Nomad Editions’ Uncorked and Chester County Cuisine & Nightlife; his unique wine mini-reviews (composed in 140 characters or less via twitter) have been used in popular iPhone and PDA wine applications such as Hello Vino, TedRec and Pocket Wine Assistant. He’s also been a judge in wine competitions, wine writing competitions, and award programs such as the Georges Duboeuf Wine Book of the Year Award.
Why does Joe write this blog? To help you to get to know wine better – how it’s made, how the industry works, and most importantly how to get the most enjoyment out of wine that you can. Every week, he strives to create the kind of content he wished had been readily available when he first was bitten by the wine-obsession bug (it doesn’t leave a welt, but it’s effects are pretty much incurable).
Show the Dude a sacred wine cow, and he’ll turn it into a roast, pair it with an obscure Italian red, and hopefully teach you a little more about wine (and entertain you) along the way!
Joe lives in Pennsylvania with his wife Kerri, daughter Lorelai Kate, and over-sized dog Brunello. When not spending his time writing bio pages in the third person, Joe plays bass guitar and digeridoo for acclaimed singer/songwriter Steve Liberace.
“I’ll tell you what I’m blathering about! I got information!…” (For PR and Media Types)
Please feel free to download the 1WineDude.com PR primer for advertising and totally out-of-date website traffic and reach/influence information. Here’s the skinny on some questions that our PR department (a.k.a. Joe, on Saturdays) frequently gets asked:
- Wine Samples – Samples are accepted, but the right is reserved not to review them. Details behind this can be discussed by contacting Joe (contact info. is below). Please consider using environmentally-friendly packaging options if available. Joe doesn’t review every wine sent to him – he hopes to be able to do this in the future but for now it’s simply not possible. Note that samples received without information will not be reviewed. Please fill-out and submit the wine sample submissions form for each wine sample sent (or provide equivalent information via press kit, etc. Retail price information MUST be included for the wine to be reviewed). Conditions described below under “Reviews.”
- Book Samples – Also accepted. Please note that sending the books in eBook format will mean that Joe can probably get to them much more quickly than he can printed versions. Conditions described below under “Reviews.”
- Other Samples – Also accepted, but they must be related to wine. Conditions described below under “Reviews.”
- Reviews - Joe reviews wine samples and wine-related products, but reserves the right to write actual views on those samples and products – positive or negative. The answer to the question “If Joe does review the wine(s) that we sent, when will he review them?” is “We don’t know.” Please do not contact Joe with questions on if/when he will review or cover a product. Please note that if you contact Joe asking why he hasn’t written about a wine or wine product, you might be guaranteeing that he never reviews it. Happy to discuss the details (contact info. is below).
- Advertising – Wine-related advertising is accepted, however direct advertising for a particular wine brand or winery, without also including competitors and their products, is not accepted. Did we mention that the advertising should be wine-related? Happy to discuss your ideas for wine-related advertising on this wine-related wine blog (contact info. is below).
- Press releases – If you do send them, can they at least be about wine, please? Contact info. is – you guessed it- below.
- Junkets and such – Please read the details on my policies regarding accepting samples & junkets here. Bottom line is that they’re considered, but if accepted no promises of coverage (positive or negative!) are made.
Contact Joe (e-mail, facebook, and twitter are best):
facebook | Twitter | e-mail: joe (at) 1winedude (dot) com |OpenWine Consortium
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