About the Wine Media Conference
The Wine Media Conference was founded in 2008 and attracts wine bloggers, wine writers, and wine influencers and those in the wine industry who communicate with them. The conference in the past has ranged from 250 to 350 attendees depending on the location and will take place for the first time outside North America in 2019. Our main local partner is the Wine Communicators of Australia, a local organization representing 700 members engaged in communications in the wine industry.
About The Hunter Valley, New South Wales, Australia
The Hunter Valley is one of the most renowned wine regions in Australia and is conveniently located just over two hours from Sydney and the country’s largest airport. We have outstanding local support from Destination New South Wales, the Hunter Valley Wine & Tourism Association, the New South Wales Wine Industry Association, and Destination Sydney Surrounds North. As you know, more local support makes for a better, richer event.
Who Should Attend
- Wine Bloggers, Writers, and Social Media Influencers who write, photograph, or video about wine or the wine industry and who wish to network with other new media; learn from experts in writing, technology, and social media; and enjoy a fantastic weekend of meals and wines from the Hunter Valley and around the world.
- Wine Industry Communicators who wish to learn from the exciting content at the conference, most of which is applicable to or exclusively oriented to wineries and other wine industry companies, or to interact and make connections with the attending media. Wine Communicators of Australia members receive a 15% discount off the industry price but non-WCA members are also welcome to attend.
Host Hotel
Our conference will take place at the The Crowne Plaza Hunter Valley (430 Wine Country Dr, Lovedale NSW 2325, Australia), a full resort with golf, tennis, and vineyard views right on the resort property. Our rate of A$190 (USD134) is excellent for this region. Click here to reserve your room at the group rate through Sept. 10. Alternatively, rooms can be booked directly with the hotel’s in-house reservations department on 61 2 4991 0970 between the hours of 7am to 7pm Monday to Friday. Please note guests must call this number provided for in-house reservations to receive the group rates (these rates will not be available to book via our Central Reservations team). Rate includes tax. Breakfast buffet can be added at check-in for A$25 (normal price A$38). Cancellations incur a penalty of 50% (60 days out) or 100% (after 30 days out). No penalty if cancellation is more than 60 days out.
What is Included
Please see the Register page for details on costs. The conference includes multiple wine tastings, Friday excursions into wine country including dinner, possibly one or two lunches depending on sponsorship, and outstanding content. Not included in the conference price are your hotel, transportation to and from the area, optional pre-conference and post-conference excursions, and optional Wine Education Sessions on Thursday prior to the conference. We charge a small fee for some of these events primarily to establish exact participation numbers for our event hosts.
Arrival and Departure
Flying into and out of Sydney, Australia is the best option if you are not participating in a pre or post-conference excursion. We will be providing suggestions on getting from Sydney to the Hunter Valley soon.
If you plan to participate in the three-day pre-conference excursion, you will be picked up at 9:00 AM in the morning of October 7 at Brisbane Airport (BNE) and so should arrive by 8:30 AM. If you arrive early to Brisbane, we will pick you up at a downtown Brisbane hotel to be provided to participants.
The pre-conference excursion will end at 2:30 PM at Brisbane Airport on October 9, at which point we suggest you fly from Brisbane to Newcastle (NTL), which is only an hour from the Hunter Valley. There is a direct flight at 3:30 PM on Virgin Australia. Please book your flight once you are registered for the pre-conference excursion.
The post-conference excursions all pick up at the Crowne Plaza Hunter Valley on the morning of October 13 and all finish in the afternoon of October 15 in Sydney. Please see the excursion page for more details.
Ground Transportation
We’re working to secure a transportation option from (Thursday) and to (Sunday) Sydney as well as from Newcastle (pre-con guests only on Wednesday). Check back for more information.
Here are private transportation options:
Uber, Ola and DiDi are all forms of private transfers and Ola and DiDi work exactly like Uber by way of an app. These can be quite expensive though – an Uber from Morisset to the Hunter Valley is just over AU$100. The following are potential companies which could accommodate the below:
- King’s Hire Car – From $120 for one person from the airport. Phone: +61 (0) 421 855 115. Email: INFO@KINGSHIRECAR.COM.AU. Website: https://www.winecountry.com.au/tours-and-transport-search/pokolbin/kings-hire-car | http://www.kingshirecar.com.au/
- Silver Service Limousines – Phone: +61 (0) 419 699 997. Email: ADMIN@TAXICO.COM.AU. Website: https://www.winecountry.com.au/tours-and-transport-search/pokolbin-rothbury/silver-service-limousines | https://taxico.com.au/
- Sydney Driver: Phone: +61 (0) 408 987 788. Email: INFO@SYDNEYDRIVER.COM. Website: https://www.winecountry.com.au/tours-and-transport-search/sydney/sydney-driver | https://www.sydneydriver.com/
Click here for a full list of Australian Wine Country transfer and tour companies.
Significant Others and Extra Events
We understand Australia is a long haul for many of you and so encourage you to bring spouses and significant others. One option is for you to register your spouse for the conference, which gets them a name badge and allows them to participate in whatever events they wish. Alternatively, consider contacting local tour operator Two Fat Blokes to arrange local tours during the conference. If your significant other does come along, consider posting in our Alumni Facebook Group so he or she can meet up with others.
Weather & Dress Code
It will be Spring in the Hunter Valley, with an average temperature of about 65 degrees.
Dress is “wine country casual”. What does that mean? Really, you should dress as you feel comfortable. For daytime sessions, jeans and a polo shirt are fine. For excursions into wine country, you should have good shoes and protection from sun or rain. For evening events, many people will dress up a bit.
More Information
List of North American Wine Blogs
List of International Wine Blogs
Past WBC Conferences
Conference Organizer
The Wine Media Conference is organized by Zephyr Conferences, the organizer of the:
- Beer Now Conference
- International Food Blogger Conference
- Wine Marketing & Tourism Conference
- Beer Marketing & Tourism Conference
For information about our conferences, please email info@zephyrconferences.com. If you are in a region interested to host one of our conferences, please complete a Host Application.
Zephyr Conferences is a sister company to Zephyr Adventures and Taste Vacations. Zephyr Adventures has been running active tours around the world for the last 20 years, including active tours in wine regions. Please visit our website for information on hiking, biking, multisport, and specialty tours.
Taste Vacations runs wine, beer, and food tours that leave the physical activity at home. Our industry contacts via Zephyr Conferences allow us to produce outstanding tours with special access for our attendees.