Wine Bloggers Conference: Live Blogging!
Bag-in-Box, Boho Vineyards, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Cupcake Vineyards, James David Cellars, Kanzler Vineyards, Malbec, Pinot Noir, Small Vines Wines, The Spaniard, Twisted Oak, WBC, Wine Bloggers Conference, Yellow + Blue
A group of bloggers — 170 or so of us — is currently in Santa Rosa, California, at the first ever Wine Bloggers Conference. It’s incredibly geeky and so far fun. I’ll be updating a few times this afternoon.
First taste of the day will be the 2005 Bink Pinot Noir, Weir Vineyard. Three clones, vinified separately and blended before bottling. Here’s a picture of it. Yay for multimedia! Tastewise, it’s a nice, medium-bodied Pinot that’s not pretending to be Syrah, which I appreciate greatly.
Update: next up is Clos La Chance — 2005 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. About 1200 cases, $30 retail. That’s Dr. Debs of Good Wine Under $20 drinking it with Russ Beebe, the Winehiker in the background.
This is a very minty wine. Sort of like cherry Sucrets with a little menthol thrown in. Decent!
Update: next up Boho Vineyards Chardonnay bag-in-box eco-friendly packaged wine. $24 for the equivalent of four bottles (3L). It will last up to six weeks in the fridge as the bag shrinks as the wine is dispensed, not allowing any air in. Check them out at their website. Of course, here’s a pic:
Update: next up is the 2007 James David Cellars Muscat Blanc, a dry Muscat from the Paso Robles area. It’s funny, I’ve followed the tweets of David Cole (handle: ColeDavid) for a while, and knew he was making wine. But I figured he was a hobbyist winemaker. This is some serious wine, though, very well made. No picture on this one…
Update: now we’re on to the 2006 Twisted Oak “The Spaniard.” This is way more balanced than the 2005, which I sold proudly. A very balanced wine. I’m happy with it, and so too seems the ebullient El Jefe, just below!
Next up: 2006 Small Vines Wines Pinot Noir from the Sonoma Coast. It comes for a vineyard with about four times the average vines per acre, with the winemaker having been inspired by the style of DRC. Unfined, unfiltered. Organic, biodynamic (non-certified)…this will apparently retail for $65 a bottle. This has tons of acidity and flavor. Interesting. Lots of potential. It’s a cliché to say Burgundian in style but that’s what I’ll say anyhow.
Next…2007 Central Coast Cupcake Vineyards Chardonnay - for only $12 this is a pretty good deal. This isn’t a flabby Chard at all. Very Macon-like. You can apparently get it at Cost Plus, or possibly through the website Underdog Wine Merchant.
And next…2007 Kanzler Vineyards Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast. $48 retail. Barrel sample (won’t be released until the Spring of 2009). This is a more extracted, rich style of Pinot compared to the Small Vines Wines. It’s fairly big and not quite settled in at the moment. Great potential but not ready yet.
Update: on to another box wine, this time in a Malbec from Mendoza, Argentina in TetraPak packaging, from the Yellow + Blue winery. This is a very structure-oriented wine. At this point in the day I may be over-sensitive to tannins, so I’m not really going to write any more notes while I give my palate a rest. It’s probably not fair to the wine for me to pass judgement. But I will post one last pic, of the TetraPak which fits a liter into a compact space, and lowers the carbon footprint (and cost) of the wine significantly.
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get your wine on
2008 “Bebame” Red, El Dorado County, California
Cabernet Franc (65%) and Gamay (35%) from - gasp - California! And only 13% ABV, pretty modest by California standards. If I tasted this blind I would probably have said it’s from the Loire Valley. It has pretty much nothing in common with the full bodied iterations of Cab Franc coming out of Napa. Juicy, light, delicious quaffing wine.$18 a bottle
2006 Telegramme Chateauneuf-du-Pape Rouge
Really balanced and smooth, this is a bargain of a Chateauneuf. Yeah, the 07s are lauded but what would I prefer to drink? This! It’s the second label of Vieux Telegraphe, from the same property but from younger vines. And it’s a deal at $33 a bottle.2006 or bust!
NV Barcino Cava: LA Times Wine of the Week!
Delicious and just in time for New Year’s Eve…this is the LA Times Wine of the Week, and we have plenty in stock. Order online, pick-up in-store!$14 a bottle!
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freshly pressed
Wine Retail and Social Media: Yeah, I Should Be Blogging…:
But I’m not. Funny, it was pointed out to me that domaine547.com appears as a successful example of social media in wine (juxtaposed against the Wine Spectator of all things) in this recent presentation (see slide #25). I guess they haven’t looked at the blog lately; it hasn’t been updated in weeks.
Really, in my internet-only days, I never understood why Brick and Mortar retailers didn’t take the time to blog. Now I know. They don’t have the time!
Seriously. Even in the downtime when there aren’t any customers — which, let’s face it, exists in decent quantity — there’s always something to be done at the store that takes priority…from the very lowly tasks, like sweeping, to the equally tedious but still mundane paying of bills, or putting price labels on bottles, to tasting wine with reps, it all has to get done. And I am here without support staff a fair amount of the time.
Suffice it to say, to all those out there giving speeches about social media and the importance of it to branding for wineries and wine stores, people, for the most part, get it. I know I get it! But finding the time is another story. And finding a voice? Even harder.
So at the moment, what I’m doing is tweeting (@domaineLA), because tweeting is very time un-intensive. A tweet takes a few seconds, and I think I get both my voice and my point (when I have one) across in these little quick spurts. I don’t know that it’s enough, but at least it’s something.
I really hope to get back to blogging soon. I swear, I do! But right now I have something very important to do, so you’ll have to excuse me while I go empty the trash can in the bathroom…
Wine Retail and Social Media: Yeah, I Should Be Blogging…
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wine jargon
Frizzante
From Wikipedia: Frizzante is an Italian wine term term for semi-sparkling wine (as opposed to Spumante, which is generally used for fully sparkling wines). Frizzante wines generally owe their bubbles to a partial secondary fermentation in tank. You might notice a light fizz or tingly sensation on the tongue with a Frizzante wine, compared to the more carbonated sensation that more fully sparkling wines yield.
Scorekage
Okay, so we made up this word yesterday after a great restaurant experience. We brought a bottle of wine with us, expecting to pay a corkage fee. But the restaurant either forgot to charge us the $15, or decided to be nice to us. We scored! Hence, “scorekage” has entered our lexicon. This can also refer to BYO friendly restaurants that don’t charge for corkage under any circumstances.
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DomaineLA Store Contact Info
If you’re looking for our brick and mortar shop, here’s where it can be found:
(323) 932-0280
Hours are 11AM to 8PM, Monday through Saturday and noon to 5PM on Sundays.
Read more…Fabulous & Frugal!
Our friends launched a new site and domaine547 is a featured wine columnist in their premiere edition! Go check out Fabulous & Frugal for some fantastic lifestyle tips for living the good life during what, for most of us, is an economically challenging time. There’s much more than wine there, and we’re thrilled to be a small part of the start of what will surely be a successful venture. Congrats to Brandi & Steph for their achievement!
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domaine547 In the Blogosphere! Imbibe Magazine Unfiltered
October 24th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Look forward to hearing more as I am doing my best to live vicariously!
October 31st, 2008 at 8:32 pm
[…] Domaine547 http://domaine547.com/2008/10/24/wine-bloggers-conference-live-blogging/ […]
November 4th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
I was at the bloggers conference. Glad to find your site! I recommend wines, winery tours and most of all wine/food pairings on my blog. If you need pairing ideas, come see me!
November 4th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
My web link in my name above went haywire. So this post fixes it. Cheers!