Wine Bloggers Conference Day 1

Greetings from Santa Rosa, CA.  I arrived here mid-day yesterday in San Francisco and made the hour plus ride up to Santa Rosa for the first U.S. based Wine Bloggers Conference being held at the Flamingo Resort.  I arrived a little late so the live blogging was happening when I arrived.  During that event it was announced that the bloggers were the second most active group on Twitter.  That was cool!  I tried 5 wines during that session and I will recommend 2 of them.  I scored them both Very Good+.  The Bink 2005 Weir Vineyard Pinot Noir was delicious.  There are only 368 cases of this wine made, so seek this one out soon. (I will eventually hyperlink all the reviews to this post)  The other wine I really liked was “The McNab.”  It is an organic blend of 60% Merlot, 26% Cab, & 14% Petite Sirah.  It smooth, balanced, and a great food wine.

From there we moved right into the Blind Tasting Challenge.   I was a semi finalist (one of the last 6 tasters) which was cool.  I guessed all but 2 of the wines correctly over the event.  But in the semifinals I missed on a tricky Cab that had some spice to it.  I called it a Syrah.  This was really a fun part of the conference and I really enjoyed it.  One taster compared it to the World Series of Poker for Wine.  Who will be at the final table? Who will win?  I was pleased to make the final table and participate.

After this event we moved to a self paced tour of current release New Zealand Wines.  If you have ever tasted with me, you know the pace is vigorous.  The results from the Sauvignon Blanc side were mixed.  I was expecting to recommend more than I did.  The ones I did recommend were very true to New Zealand style and varietal character.  Here is the recommended list.

Allan Scott 2008 Sauvignon Blanc (Very Good+)
Vavasour 2008 Sauvignon Blanc (Very Good+)
Kim Crawford 2008 Sauvignon Blanc (Very Good+)
The Crossings 2008 Sauvignon Blanc (Very Good)
Monkey Bay 2008 Sauvignon Blanc (Very Good)
Dashwood 2007 Sauvignon Blanc (Very Good)

As for Pinot Noir from New Zealand, I found 4 that I really liked and would recommend.  They are:

Palliser Estate 2006 Pinot Noir (Very Good+)
Palliser Estate 2007 Pinot Noir (Very Good)
Gladstone Vineyards 2007 Pinot Noir (Very Good+)
Clos Henri 2006 Pinot Noir (Very Good)

The evening closed with dinner being hosted by the Dry Creek Valley Vintners.  My favorite wine poured during dinner was the 2004 Michel Schlumberger Estate Grown Caberent Sauvignon.  I scored this wine Very Good+ and found it to be the most food friendly wine poured.  Dry Creek Vineyard’s 2007 Fume Blanc was my second favorite.  The keynote speaker at the dinner was Gary Vaynerchuk.  Gary had a lot of great things to say about where wine blogging is and where it can go.  Gary sent a very encouraging message to the bloggers to keep it up and do more.  The oppurtunity is out there for tremendous growth. 

Overall, Day 1 was quite a success and I look forward to the next 2 days of my trip.  Stay tuned.  Cheers!

Ken