I think that the piece as written was pretty funny, and yes, it does hit ‘low lying fruit’ as someone else says.
Tom, I never said or implied per se that this event was ‘better’ than ZAP at all - I just referred to the fact that that event has now become synonymous with more folks getting drunk at than most other wine festivals. That is not to say that that event does not have its merits - it obviously does and the organization has done a fantastic job of keeping it relevant and vibrant all of these years . . .
It’s just too easy to brush as broad a stroke over the Blogger’s Conference as many do. As Vincent and Beau have pointed out, the post certainly does strike true in limited ways here and there, but not in its entirety.
Are there bloggers out there who seem to write simple, ‘uneducated’ pieces about wine? Heck yeah - just as their are posters here who do the same thing - and that’s okay. Some posters here are truly and honestly trying to learn about about the craft and choose to do so by exploring and writing about their journey, and this is what some bloggers do as well.
Are there plenty of ‘serious writers’ as bloggers out there? Heck yeah - plenty of folks who have now ‘had impacts’ and have been mentioned above and continue to write either provocative stuff or just interesting stuff.
The event itself was far from a drunkfest to me. Yep, there was drinking involved. Yep, there were plenty of bottle shots taken and praise for wines that perhaps did not deserve the praise that they received.
I went as a blogger myself, but also poured my wines at a few different events, and was a moderator for a panel on ‘pioneering winemakers of the region’ that included Richard Sanford, Ken Brown, Rick Longoria, and Bob Lindquist (holy crap was I intimidated!!!). I therefore saw the event from many sides indeed. There was a lot of drinking going on for sure - just as there is at ANY convention. There was a lot of money thrown around by larger companies wanting more exposure - pretty much all of whom were from outside the Santa Barbara area interestingly enough. There were ‘cliques’ for some bloggers have been coming to this event know for all 7 years and get together regularly to do tastings etc.
To me, the important thing about the event was to ‘craft’ the story of Santa Barbara County in a way that we wanted it to be - not have it crafted for us. It was important and imperative for me to show the diversity of what is going on here varietally speaking, to show that many of our pioneering winemakers are still out there doing it - and producing some of their best wines now, and to show the down-to-earth nature of our winemaking community, something that sets us apart in many ways. I think that was achieved.
Was wine sold this weekend around here? Yes. Will there be additional wine sales based on folks attending writing about the region? I believe there will be. Will this turn out to be a ‘game changer’ for our region? No. Are some of these bloggers really good at storytelling? Yes. Are some not? Yes . . .
The event is far from perfect, and there are many ways I believe to make it more interesting. That said, the seminar that Michael Larner gave on the geology of Santa Barbara County viticulture would have been fascinating for anyone on this board to experience; the panel on Ballard Canyon syrahs, moderated by Patrick Comiskey and featuring Beckmen, Stolpman, Jonata, Larner and more would have been right up WB’s alley; the panel on Sta Rita Hills would have been enjoyed by many here as well . . . .
Again, not as simple as ‘bloggers suck’ or ‘bloggers have no impact’ - at least to me . . .
Cheers!