Self-Proclaimed Wine Critic
When I first started blogging about wine almost four years ago, there were about 300 wine bloggers around the world. Since then the numbers have grown — wine magazines, newspaper wine
columnists, wineries and even retail wine stores are getting in on the action — a very smart move, to my mind.
I know when I fi rst started blogging I felt alone. I was one of the few women wine bloggers. I also was the only wine blogger in Walla Walla, and the only one at the time just blogging about Walla Walla wines — and even one of the few blogging about Washington state wines. I was met with: “Walla Wall- where did you say? Washington DC makes wine? Oh, you have that little blaaawg. Isn’t that cute (pat-pat-pat), she’s writing about wines from her little hometown.”
How things have changed. Wine blogging is so popular now conventions are held in the United States and internationally. And Walla Walla is garnering recognition for the town and its wines, most recently in the February issue of Gourmet magazine.
For those of you unfamiliar with the term “blog,” Wikipedia describes it as a contraction of the words “Web” and “log.” A blog is a Web site, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. “Blog” also can be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.
Like anything new and unfamiliar, the explosion of wine blogs has been met with controversy. The word on the wine blogging street is that it’s the “old
(traditional print/journalists) versus the new.” And the “new” has been described as a group of “self proclaimed wine critics … lazy person’s journalism” by the “old.”
Wine blogs bring a democratic approach to what was previously perceived as a luxury item that could be written about only by insiders.
What wine blogging has done is to fl ing open the windows and clear out the intellectual dust – the time-honored prejudices in particular. The immediacy of a blog where posts are made daily or, in some cases, hourly, makes it a good source of wine news. Thoughtful essays on wine, wine making and sales are also common.
At best wine blogs are written by knowledgeable people who are passionate about wine and want to share information that can help wine lovers and the wine industry. There are some who don’t live up to that level of professionalism, but a blog lives and dies by the dedication, accuracy and reliability of its content. And, of course, some are more fun to read than others.
So, what wine subject do you want to read about?
Wines from Washington state? From Long Island or the Finger Lakes regions of New York? Wines under $20? Care about the politics and marketing of wine? Want to learn about the wines from Italy, Spain and Portugal? Are you a Pinot Noir enthusiast? Or follow a specific winery? Prefer to watch videos about wine? How about Walla Walla Valley wines? It’s all a URL away.
For me, it was either not knowing any better or stubbornness, but I hung in there — like a small yapping terrier dog chewing on whatever bare ankle was visible. My remarks must have left some toothy impressions, because that stubbornness is paying off.
More writers are climbing on the blog wagon, and it’s exciting to read new blogs coming out of the Walla Walla Valley, especially now from the wineries, such as Bergevin Lane, Pepper Bridge and Cadaretta.
In the future, I suspect the wine blogosphere will settle down and everyone will find their niche in the World Wide Wine Web — if they work hard enough at it.
