feature photo: Drew Bledsoe’s Doubleback winery summer solstice party at McQueen Vineyard overlooking Walla Walla, Washington Courtesy of Washingtonwine.org

#wbc18

Michael and I will be heading north again in October.  This time visiting Washington for WBC18.  The Wine Bloggers Conference is a great opportunity for us to meet winemakers, taste wines and hear plenty of stories (which is what we like best).  We will also have an opportunity for some IRL (In real life) meetings with many of the wine writers that we otherwise only speak to over social media.  The opportunity to clink glasses with people from across the globe who are fascinated with wine like we are makes for a great trip.

Oregon-Wine-Walla-Walla-Valley
Courtesy of Oregon Wine Board

The Wineries and Stories of Washington

The conference itself will be held in Walla Walla Washington, but we will be taking both pre and post conference excursions. This will give us insights into the Yakima and Columbia Gorge wine regions.

Washington AVAs
Photo Courtesy of washingtonwine.org

The highlight of the trip will be getting to know the Washington wines.  You will get to hear about our trip to Owen Roe Winery and Elephant Mtn. Vineyard in the Yakima area, our dinner in the glass house at Cadaretta Winery, and our post conference trip to Maryhill and Cathedral Ridge wineries in the Columbia Gorge.

Maryhill Vineyard Photo Courtesy of washingtonwine.org

More than Washington Wines

And it won’t just be Washington wines.  In between those trips Michael and I have some seminars on wines of Uruguay, and German Riesling and presentations on Walla Walla Wines and Cascade Valley Wines. There are discovery sessions with Rias Baixas and Consorzio Lugana.  We will also do live blogging sessions with speed tastings of red wines and white and rosés. 

Along with all of the wine education there will also be seminars on social media strategies and other writing/blogging stuff.

Sponsors from around the globe will be at the conference, tasting and educating, including organizations from Rioja, and Uruguay, as well as import companies like Loosen Bros and Apps like Delectable.

There will also be wineries from around the globe including Gloria Ferrer with their sparkling wines, Mt. Beautiful from New Zealand.  Beyond wine, Cheeses of Europe will be there to pair amazing cheeses with the wines.

Gloria Ferrer Vineyards

So…while we are still chest deep in content from our wonderful trip to Oregon, (which we will continue pushing out fabulous posts from our interviews with wineries there), you will see tons of new bits on Washington and the conference.

CGC and the Environment

Around the conference we will be capturing our trip, as we do an unplanned, where ever the wind blows us return trip by car in our beautiful EV plug-in hybrid Nuit.  That’s her name “Nuit” because she is midnight blue.  She’s  a KIA Niro Plug-in hybrid and if you want to get me talking, ask me about her.  My carbon footprint has shrunk dramatically as has the money I spend on gas. 

If you ask me if you should invest in one, I will overwhelmingly tell you yes!  The trip will (hopefully) be filled with great shots of amazing countryside, bragging on our great gas mileage and our adventures in finding charging stations, possible Yurt stays and any wineries along what-ever route we choose.

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And, while we are on the environmental bandwagon here, we will also be listening for stories to share with you on how climate change is impacting wineries.  We see in both Oregon and Washington, changes in where vineyards are being planted and varieties that go into those vineyards.

We are pretty excited about the trip.  My favorite part is micro planning part of it, with the details for the conference and trips layed out on spread sheets and tons of research completed and mapped out to share with you.

Having the other part be pretty free spirited, with just discovering as we go lends a real air of adventure to the trip!

So get ready to see an explosion of content on our social media sites at the beginning of October!  Make sure you are following us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as we head off on our latest adventure.  We will be chronicling it as always and will have plenty of stories to share!