I’ve just returned from Walla Walla, WA where I was both a panelist and attendee at the 2010 Wine Bloggers Conference.  As if that sentence didn’t contain enough Ws for you, I also was honored (and humbled) with the 2010 Wine Blog Award for Best Overall Wine Blog.

THANK YOU to all of those who nominated and voted for 1WineDude.com – and thanks especially the readers and frequent commenters who are the ones primarily responsible for making this blog as successful and fun as it is.  Congratulations to all of the winners and finalists – they are all great, great blogs that are well worth your time.

I also made a speech, for which I felt quite unprepared but it seemed to go over well enough. I met friends, old and new, and learned that when you wine a WBA and stand still for more than 2 minutes in a room with lots of PR folks, you will have some of those (less sensitive) PR people actively block your way to the bathroom in order to talk to you and get your business card.

I also got interviewed a lot (or at least it felt like a lot to me); a fun one with the Wine Biz Radio guys appears at the beginning of the embedded video below (followed by interesting interviews with lots of other bloggers, winemakers, and cool PR people).

I tasted some wines, of course, and visited some wineries, and hung out with some wine personalities, and I do plan to write about all of that; I also plan to write a tribute to my dog, Sam, who passed away while I was at the conference. But I need to decompress first, and process the whirlwind emotional roller-coaster of the weekend that was WBC and WBA.  And maybe remove the W key from my keyboards (not sure that last one is such a good idea, actually).  More to come; for now – there’s a ton of WBC coverage happening in the blog-o-world.

Thanks again; I will try to “do right” and reinforce the vote of confidence that you’ve been kind enough to give me!

(video after the jump)…

Cheers!

Last week, I had the pleasure of being the guest on WineBizRadio, the great Sonoma-based wine business radio program with which most of you savvy readers will already be familiar.

I always enjoy riffing with show hosts Kaz and Randy, and I had a fantastic time discussing the recent Wine Writers Symposium (Facebook fan page), Premiere Napa Valley, and “the-wine-life-in-general” (by which I mean wine writing and, more specifically, the inability to make a decent living wage while writing about wine).  Except for that “my voice always sounds more nasally and higher pitched when I hear it on the radio” thing.

Anyway, I thought it would be a fun way to wrap up the coverage on the Wine Writers Symposium and the craziness of PNV (although I’m sure it’s not actually getting wrapped up totally… I’ve got tons I could talk about from those events…).

As an added bonus, in this episode of WBR Kaz-The-Wise explains how any wine blogger can quickly make money, provided they’re not too concerned about ethics. :-)

Enjoy (embedded audio below)…

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WineBizRadio – “Altitude Sickness”

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Queen’s “Radio Ga Ga” from Live Aid 1985 (just because it kicks ass)

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Cheers!

A hearty shout-out to Randy and Kaz, the hosts of the excellent KVSY radio program and on-line podcast Wine Biz Radio, were very kind in mentioning and discussing my recent post on how to better appreciate wine despite the light-speed pace of how we consumers tend to evaluate our purchases these days.  The WBR podcast also includes an in-studio interview with August Sebastiani, and a phone interview with uber-social media man Gary Vaynerchuk to discuss his best-seller book Crush It – so it’s worth a listen even if you have no interest in what they they had to say about my recent article (of course, if you have no interest in what they had to say about my recent article then I’d seriously question why you’re spending any time reading this article, but hey, it’s your time…).

The podcast is titled Leaving The Nest, in reference to the Sebastiani boys going out on their on in terms of their wine brands, but I found it eerily suitable to the short discussion that Kaz and Randy had about my post.  Randy called it “the best wine blog post ever” – a bit too superlative, even for me, but I was honored and touched by the sentiment.  Especially considering that I almost didn’t run the article because I felt I didn’t quite catch the vibe and continuity in it that I was aiming for – so it almost became a throwaway piece. 

Leaving The Nest – that really sums up how I feel after publishing the posts on the virtual pages of 1WineDude.com, because I never really know where the conversation is going to lead after an article has gone live.  And I love that.  I love that I could never, ever predict a reaction like Randy’s, or the types of challenges, stories, anecdotes, questions, and insights that I consistently read from the comments made by 1WineDude readers.  By people like YOU.

Honestly, it’s the dialog with you that keeps me going on this blog. That and the opportunity to drink nice wine while outlaying the smallest amount of cash possible.

I mean, I try to respond to as many comments as I can, because the main difference between wine blogging and printed wine media is the fact that no article is “finished” when it’s posted on a blog – it’s a discussion, and evolution in which you take part and in which your role is essential to teasing out the most interesting aspects.  It’s an aspect that is impossible in printed media, it’s what makes blogging unique, and it turns an otherwise “finished” statement into a jazz composition – I lay out the framework, and you guys and gals add the solos, the tempo and key changes; YOU are the ones who really make it come alive.

So, whenever you get the chance this week, when you’re sipping some wine with dinner or are out at a bar with friends, let’s raise a glass together – Here’s to the opportunity to continue to make kick-ass, beautiful wine blogging music with you for a long time to come!

THANKS!