Wednesday, October 3
Pre-Conference Excursions: Excursions are only available to registered attendees of the conference. Details are available and registration is open.
- Wine Yakima Valley, WA will be hosting a two-day pre-conference excursion starting in the Tri-Cities and overnighting at the Hotel Maison in Yakima, WA. @YakimaAVA Limited seats available – email sara@zephyrconferences.com to reserve your seat today.
- SOLD OUT!! The Red Mountain AVA Alliance and its winery and vineyard members will be hosting a two-day pre-conference excursion including overnight accommodations at the new Lodge at Columbia Point in Richland, WA. @RedMtnAVA
Thursday, October 4
Breakfast on Your Own
SOLD OUT!! 9:00 AM Pre-Conference Excursion: Force Majeure Wines will be hosting a morning excursion with a visit to the winery with tours, tastings and a seminar. Details are available and registration is open. @ForceMVineyards
1:00 – 6:30 PM Registration (Ballroom Lobby): Pick up your name badge and check in for the Conference.
SOLD OUT!! 2:00 – 4:30 PM Sherry Wine Specialist Certification Course by The House of Lustau (Renaissance): This session is limited to 30 people, requires separate registration, and costs $15. Program consists of a 2.5-hour class that shall include: a 1.5 hour instruction on the history, viticulture, vinification (Solera process), wine styles and their differences, pairings, a tasting of all the basic styles (Finos, Amontillados, Olorosos, and Sweets) and a test (28 questions). The test will be graded and those achieving a passing score of 20 will be awarded the Certified Sherry Wine Specialist recognition. The Certificate of Achievement will be signed by both Lustau’s CEO and Cesar Saldana, Director of the Regulatory Council of Jerez. A list of those that passed the course will be shared with the Regulatory Council. A Certificate of Recognition will be issued to those that do not achieve the passing grade but only signed by Lustau. This session will be well worth your time even if you don’t pass the test (or care about the certification) and it is also possible to retake the exam at a later date.
Please note: The Wine Education Sessions below will be running at the same time as the Sherry Certification Course.
SOLD OUT!! 2:00 – 3:00 PM Wine Education Sessions: These small-group sessions are designed to provide exposure to high-value, rare, or unique wines, accompanied by an educational component. Each session is limited to 25 people, requires separate registration, and costs $15. Details will be provided as sessions are confirmed.
- German Riesling: The New Generation of Dry Wines vs the Classic Styles with Sweetness (Empire): Which style of Riesling do you really prefer, dry or sweet? Which style expresses terroir more clearly? An in-depth exploration of the differences (and similarities) between the new Grosses Gewächs (GG) style of dry Riesling and a corresponding Prädikat counterpart from the same vintage and single-vineyard site. Wines from five of Germany’s most highly regarded producers will be used to illustrate these differences. @drloosenwines
3:30 – 4:30 PM Wine Education Sessions: These small-group sessions are designed to provide exposure to high-value, rare, or unique wines, accompanied by an educational component. Each session is limited to 25 people, requires separate registration, and costs $15.
- SOLD OUT!! Discover Uruguay – South America’s Best Kept Secret (Empire): Uruguay is the fourth biggest wine producer in South America but it’s wines are still under the radar. Come to grips with the exciting wines, producers and terroir of this little-discovered wine country in an in-depth masterclass led by South America specialist Amanda Barnes. You’ll taste through the major and the up-and-coming wine regions and varieties, and get to know the main players and most innovative producers of Uruguay.
- SOLD OUT!! Masters of Merlot (Native American): Explore the depth and complexity of Merlot from two distinct wine growing regions and two iconic producers. Compare and contrast Duckhorn Vineyards Napa Valley Merlot with L’Ecole N° 41 Estate Merlot Walla Walla Valley across multiple vintages. Discover how well this varietal can age over time as well as how approachable it is upon release. Finish up your exploration of Merlot with a taste of the 2015 Duckhorn Vineyards Three Palms Vineyard Merlot, the follow-up vintage to Wine Spectator’s 2017 number one wine of the year. Hosted by Constance Savage, General Manager L’Ecole N° 41 and Kay Malaske, Trade Relations and Education Manager Duckhorn Wine Company. @duckhornwine @lecole41
4:30 – 6:30 PM Expo and Welcome to Walla Walla Reception (Explorer Ballroom): Meet our sponsors and taste wines from both the local area and around the world as you meet and greet your fellow attendees.
6:30 PM Wine Country Evening Excursions: These optional evening excursions require pre-registration and cost an additional $20. Confirmed excursions include:
- Mullan Road Cellars Dinner – SOLD OUT @mullanrdcellars
- K Vintners Dinner – CLOSED @kickasswawine
- Cadaretta Winery Dinner – SOLD OUT @cadaretta
Friday, October 5
Breakfast on Your Own
8:00 – 3:00 PM Registration & Expo (Ballroom Lobby): Register for the conference if you did not last night and have another chance to visit with our sponsors.
9:00 – 9:30 AM Conference Opening (Explorer Ballroom)
9:30 – 10:30 AM Introduction to the Walla Walla Valley (Explorer Ballroom): Thanks to a truly unique combination of climate, character, charm and culture, the Walla Walla Valley has become home to one of the finest wine regions in the nation, with 120 wineries and 2,800 acres of grapes. This panel of wine executives from local Walla Walla wineries will discuss the current state of grape growing and wine making in the Walla Walla Valley.
- Ron Williams, Executive Director, Visit Walla Walla, Moderator
- Annette Bergevin, General Manager & Founding Partner, Bergevin Lane Winery
- Nina Buty, Founder/President, Buty Winery
- Muriel Kenyon, General Manager, Otis Kenyon Wine
- Ashley Trout, Owner/Winemaker, Vital Wines and Brook & Bull Cellars
10:30 – 10:45 AM Break
10:45 AM – 11:45 PM Wine Bloggers, Wine Writers, and Wine Influencers (Explorer Ballroom): Wine blogging is just one form of writing and just one aspect of being a wine influencer. Hear from a panel of experts familiar with all three media as they discuss blogging, writing, social media, and “influencing” in terms of where we are today and where we might be headed in the future.
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- Thaddeus Buggs, The Minority Wine Report, Moderator
- James Forsyth, Vinous & Delectable
- Michael Wangbickler, Balzac Communications
- Tom Wark, Wark Communications
11:45 AM – 12:00 PM Break
12:00 – 1:30 PM Lunch sponsored by Cascade Valley Wine Country – @CVWCWines (Explorer Ballroom): Cascade Valley winemakers will be rotating around the room pouring their wines while you enjoy a deli lunch.
1:30 – 1:45 PM Break
1:45 – 2:45 PM Wine Discovery Sessions: Choose a wine tasting session designed to present you with interesting wines and information from the actual producers.
- Rias Baixas – @RiasBaixasWines (Renaissance): In this seminar, we’ll explore the latest winemaking techniques and wine styles from Rías Baixas. While the Albariño wines from the region are often bottled and consumed young, this seminar will demonstrate how this world-class variety is benefiting from a range of winemaking styles. Join Guild Somm’s Chief Instructor and Wine Enthusiast’s Sommelier of the Year 2018, Chris Tanghe MS, to learn about the evolution of Albariño from Rías Baixas, including barrel aged and sparkling examples. www.riasbaixaswines.
com - Consorzio Lugana DOC – @VinoLuganaDOC (Lewis): Join Luca Formentini, the President of the Consorzio Tutela and Carlo Veronese, the Director, for a guided tasting that introduces Lugana’s terroir and the winemaking that creates a broad range of wine styles from the indigenous Turbiana. This session is an opportunity to taste current-vintage 2017s, Riserva and late harvest wines, and to understand the variety’s longevity and aging potential.
2:45 – 3:00 PM Break
3:00 – 3:45 PM Keynote Speaker: Lewis Perdue, Publisher and Editor of Wine Industry Insight (Explorer Ballroom)
Becoming a Journalist Blogger: Blogging surged with the opportunity for anyone to start a blog and write about any subject they pleased. Some content was excellent but much was filled with unsubstantiated opinions, lack of research, and even personal diatribes. Times have changed. Blogs without substance simply do not have any draw to attract readers. To succeed in the modern era of blogging you need to become a “journalist blogger” – researching your facts, checking with your subjects, and confirming with third party experts – even while still providing your own opinions. Learn to do this and your blog will have value, credibility, and readers. This keynote by award-winning journalist, long-time blogger and former journalism professor Lewis Perdue will present 10 credibility tips you can use to increase reader loyalty and boost readership.
3:45 – 4:45 PM Live Red Wine Blogging (Explorer Ballroom): This is the pre-eminent event at the Wine Bloggers Conference. 25 winemakers will each have five minutes to pour their wine, present their story, and answer questions from a table of bloggers. At the end of five minutes, winemakers will rotate to a new table. Bloggers will analyze and describe their impressions live via social media or their blogs.
4:45 – 5:15 PM Live Wine Blogging Followup (Ballroom Lobby): Communicate with and try wines from wineries participating in the event.
5:15 PM Wine Country Dinner Excursions: We are reinstating our famous “Mystery Excursions”, hosted this year by the Walla Walla Wine Alliance (@WWValleyWine). We will have vehicles depart the Marcus Whitman hotel for approximately eight different destinations. Just jump in a vehicle and be whisked away to learn about the local wine region and have dinner with your hosts.
Saturday, October 6
Breakfast on Your Own
8:30 – 6:00 PM Registration (Ballroom Lobby): Registration will remain open all day.
9:00 – 10:00 AM WBC19 in Australia (Explorer Ballroom): Hear our plans for the 2019 Wine Bloggers Conference in Australia! Our invited guests include Lynda Schenk from Wine Communicators of Australia and Irene Morgan from Destination New South Wales.
10:00 – 10:15 AM Break
10:15 – 11:00 AM Breakout Sessions: Choose one of three
- Advanced Strategies for Facebook and Instagram (Renaissance): Facebook and Instagram are two of the most powerful and yet obscure forms of social media in terms of marketing. Learn how to use advanced bidding, paid promotion, and content creation strategies on Facebook & Instagram to provoke engagement, reduce costs, and be a rockstar digital marketer. Presented by Carin Oliver, Angelsmith, Inc.
- How to Seal the Deal with a Kick Ass Media Kit (Sacajawea): In this session, you’ll learn what is essential to include in your media kit and how to make your media kit work for you so brands are banging at your door. Presented by Jana Seitzer, Owner/Influencer, Whiskynsunshine.com / GeekGirlDigital.com.
- How to Craft a Compelling Professional Pitch (Clark): With wine writing now dispersed among many more writers, it’s more important than ever for writers to craft concise and compelling pitches aimed at specific outlets and audiences. This presentation will discuss how to develop a strong article concept and effectively communicate it to possible publishers. Presented by Stacy Ladenburger, GuildSomm
11:00 – 11:15 AM Break
11:15 AM – 12:00 PM Breakout Sessions: Choose one of three
- How to Make Wineries Adore You (Renaissance): Bloggers and wineries need each other but wineries have to decide which bloggers to work with – and whether that includes you. This session will explore how you can make winery marketing and PR folks adore you before you are ever in contact, during your visit or interaction, and in your followup. Topics will include putting reach and demographics of readers on your site, delivering what you promise, and much more. Presented by Michelle Kaufmann, Stoller Family Estates and Kayt Mathers, Play Nice PR
- Videography for Bloggers (Sacajawea): Consumers are demanding more video-based content and wine lends itself to this more engaging form of media. Discussion includes ways to embed video into your content, different platforms to execute it, and a wide variety of examples that could be applied to wine content. Presented by Mary Cressler, Founder, Vindulge.
- Can Google Read? How your Writing Affects Your Rank in Google Search (Clark): Get ready to learn strategies to instantly apply to push your content to the top of Google search results. You’ll learn the seven components of readability Google considers when crawling content and be introduced to free (FREE!) online tools to help you assess your writing. Then learn about the technical side of how this works with Google Hummingbird and Rank Brain. It’s not necessary but having a document with a draft blog post will help you apply some of these strategies in real time and solidify your learning. Get ready to learn, leverage, and laugh! Presented by John Cashman and Nancy Koziol, Digital Firefly Marketing.
12:00 – 1:45 PM Lunch sponsored by Visit Walla Walla – @VisitWallaWalla Visit Walla Walla will provide a box lunch in some Downtown Walla Walla tasting rooms. Sign up at the Expo on Thursday or registration desk to select your tasting room and your box lunch will be waiting for your arrival.
1:45 – 2:45 PM Wine Discovery Sessions: Choose a wine tasting session designed to present you with interesting wines and information from the actual producers.
- Bodegas LAN – @BodegasLAN Rioja in Three Letters (Renaissance): With a connection to the land that is inherent to the origin of their winery, Bodegas LAN is named after the first letters of the three provinces in the DOCa Rioja: Logroño, Álava and Navarra. LAN’s innovative character is forged in each of the wines they make, based on conscientious vineyard management and precise winemaking. This seminar – a guided tasting and exploration with Master of Wine and LAN enthusiast Doug Frost – will showcase how Bodegas LAN seamlessly blends the best of Rioja tradition with modern winemaking with their pioneer approach to aging in the highest quality oak barrels, crafted by the world’s best coopers – including French, American, Russian and hybrids. #rioja #Spain #bodegaslan #riojainthreeletters
- Gloria Ferrer – @GloriaFerrer Bubbles & Bites (Lewis): Explore the versatility of sparkling wine and food pairings. We will break down the basics and push the boundaries as we learn about bubbles. Enjoy different styles of sparkling wine and deconstructed food elements as you learn just how food friendly bubbles can be. Presented by Martha Stewart wine contributor and Sommelier Sarah Tracey of The Lush Life. www.gloriaferrer.com
2:45 – 3:00 PM Break
3:00 – 4:00 PM Wine and Cheese Pairing with Cheeses of Europe (Explorer Ballroom): Cheeses of Europe is a campaign led by the dairy farmers and cheese producers of France. Ever wonder why some cheeses are cave-aged? Or perhaps you would like to taste a cheese that’s so rich, it was once used as currency in 18th century Europe? From the salty breezes of Normandie to the wild flowers of the Rhone-Alpes, explore the flavor and tradition of French Cheeses and learn the secrets of how to make any dish, recipe or occasion manifique from the Cheese Twins! Find out more by visiting www.cheesesofeurope.com or @cheesesofeurope.
4:00 – 4:15 Break
4:15 – 5:00 Lightning Talks (Explorer Ballroom): We will have 8 of your fellow attendees get up on stage to deliver five-minute, Ignite-style “Lightning Talks”. With 20 slides each advancing automatically on 15-second intervals, speakers have to be on the top of their game to deliver fun, informative, often hilarious talks. 2018 Presenters:
- Michael Fagin | West Coast Weather
- Nancy Koziol | The Oethical Oenologist
- Richard Baxter | Wine and Health
- Austin Beeman | Understanding Wine with Austin Beeman
- Roslyne Buchanan & Jennifer Cockrall-King | Roslyne Buchanan/Cottage Life Magazine
- Marty Sparks | LuchaVino
- Anne Keery | Aspiring Winos
- Liz Barrett | What’s in That Bottle
5:00 – 6:00 PM Live White & Rosé Wine Blogging (Explorer Ballroom): This is the pre-eminent event at the Wine Bloggers Conference. 20 Winemakers will each have five minutes to pour their wine, present their story, and answer questions from a table of bloggers. At the end of five minutes, winemakers will rotate to a new table. Bloggers will analyze and describe their impressions live via social media or their blogs.
6:00 – 6:30 PM Live Wine Blogging Follow-up (Ballroom Lobby): Communicate with and try wines from wineries participating in the event.
7:30 – 9:30 PM Dinner sponsored by Visit Walla Walla – @VisitWallaWalla (Explorer Ballroom): Dine with local Walla Walla winemakers as they make their rounds to your dinner table pouring their delicious wines.
Sunday, October 7
Breakfast on Your Own
Post-Conference Excursions: Excursions are only available to registered attendees of the conference. Details are available and registration is open.
- Maryhill Winery & Cathedral Ridge Winery will host a Gorge-ous Wine Country Experience with an all day excursion ending in Portland, OR. @MaryHillWinery @CathedralRidge Limited seats available – email sara@zephyrconferences.com to reserve your seat today.
- Join Visit Tri-Cities for a familiarization tour featuring inspired cuisine, unique experiences and interesting story angles that will appeal to a variety of editors and publications. @TriCitiesWA
- Join Visit Walla Walla and Main Street Drivers for a five winery tours in the picturesque Southside District. @VisitWallaWalla @MainStDrivers