Over the hills and through the vineyards – WBC Day 2 (part 1)

Wenchie and Jefe in rapt attention

Day 2 of the Wine Bloggers Conference started off with a collection of bloggers making our way to the infamous Bus 4.  I shall not name names, but suffice it to say that myself, @thebeerwench, @sharayray and @eljefetwisted were involved.  We boarded our bus and made our way over Hurl Hill, aka Mark West Springs – Calistoga Road.  Now I’m not sure who’s brilliant idea this was to put us on busses that we could barely see out of, but let’s just say that I did not posses my stomach when we got to the Culinary Institute of America’s Greystone Campus in St. Helena.

Fortunately, the nice students had made us some nibbles, and there was coffee and juice waiting for us before the first speaker, former CEO of America Online, Barry Shuler .  Barry was an engaging speaker, and after my stomach settled, I actually woke up and paid attention.  The CIA even had wireless for those of us who lugged our laptops, but the cell reception was spotty at best so I tried to take notes as best I could.

The session kicked off with some background on Napa Valley Vintners, and what they mean to us wine bloggers.  Four percent of California wine grapes are harvested in Napa Valley, yet, somewhere between 25-35% of California’s gross revenue wine economy is generated here.  These are impressive numbers given that something like 5% of Americans drink wine on a regular basis.  (Please don’t skewer me for these numbers, they arent’ exact, just google and some research).

Currently, the Napa Valley has over 300 wineries and even more brands.  Given that the entire state has 850 wineries, that means Napa holds the lease on approximately 40% of the wineries in the entire state.  That is pretty impressive when you consider that only 9% of land is actually planted to wine grapes.  With less than 5% of land available for planting now, it’s pretty amazing that the small amount of agricultural land produces such a large amount of revenue with just 4% of total grape production.  The 4% number makes sense however, when you factor in large grape factories such as the Central Valley, which produce for the bulk wine industry and the fighting varietal powerhouses of Gallo and boxed wine hell.

Barry Shuler, who now co-owns Meteor Vineyard, with his wife, has a vested interest in both the success of his own Coombsville vineyard, but also the wine industry as a whole.  He spoke to us about the future of blogging, and being an ex-techie (is that even possible?) he understands the bleeding edge that many of us face.  One of the thoughts that Barry shared that really struck me was that he was a genuine wine lover, who understands that every wine bottle holds a story, and every tasting is an adventure.  I still believe that, even after some odd years of drinking, and that is what excites me about wine and about wine blogging.

Barry states that wine is one of the few commodities where the craving for information has never quite been met by traditional media.  This is our opportunity folks!  There is a need.  There is a need that hasn’t been met.  There is a never ending adventure to be had in every bottle.  Each bottle is a unique experience.  Bloggers have the opportunity to reshape the current media climate.  Yes, we are in an economic downturn, but there is still a business model for blogging that has not been built yet.  The critical element is finding out not only how to make money doing what we love and following our passions, but also how to thrive and survive.  He analogizes that we are currently in the Death Valley of media, with the economic downturn and change in the tide.  When we emerge from this bubble however, advertisers will flock to the interwebs because our small segments can be targeted and we each have unique audiences.  There might be cross over, but there is a reason that you and you and you read my blog while you over there – yes you in the corner – do not.

Barry Schuler

One of the key takeaways I took from all three of the speakers that morning was that 95% of Napa Valley wineires are actually still family owned.  Most of these produce less than 10,000 cases annually, which completely blows my negative views on Napa being corporate and huge.  Yes, there are those guys out there, but my long held belief that there are three types of wineries:  Corporate owned (Diago, Constellation, etc); family money and history; just plain money, such as Silicon Valley exiles, has softened a bit as a result.

As is evidenced by the blogger bashing that has been going on recently, traditional media is running scared.  As Barry put it, “what’s that hissing sound?  It’s the air coming out of the Media Biz”.  Blogging represents the democratization of media.  No, not everyone will want to read every blog.  But you can be dammed sure that there is something out there in cyberspace that every single person will want to read, even if it’s not on a computer screen, a Kindle, or an iPhone.  Content is king, and if you know your audience or your INTENDED audience, your content will be a commodity.

The wine industry as a whole is catching up with the rest of the world.  In an environment that is traditionally 5-10 years behind the cutting edge of technology and trends, slowly but surely the wine folks are catching up wit the rest of us.  There are more and more wineries that are blogging themselves, and more and more wineries that are engaging bloggers.  Even the big boys in the industry want to solicit wine blogger feedback.  As evidenced by the large amount of industry reps at the WBC that were deer caught in the headlights of a social media bulldozer, the industry WANTS to learn.  They might be clueless, they might be slow to catch on.  But at least they are asking.

Stay tuned for Part Two!  You will learn more than you ever want to about what NOT to do with a bus full of bloggers.