Wine Media Conference

Writing and Social Media for the Wine Industry

Wine Media Conference to Offer Six Excursions in Oregon

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We have partnered with The Oregon Wine Board to offer three pre-conference excursions and three post-conference excursions for the 2020 Wine Media Conference, which will take place August 20 – 22 in Eugene. This will allow the expected 220 conference attendees to visit wine regions throughout Oregon on their visit to the state.

Pre-conference and post-conference excursions have been a staple of the Wine Media Conference for years and are some of the most popular, highly-rated events attached to the conference. The excursions allow media to experience wineries, meet industry leaders, and taste wines. In 2020 our excursions include:

Pre-Conference

Post-Conference

Excursions are open only to registered attendees of the Wine Media Conference. Excursions include meals, winery visits, and ground transportation. There is a nominal fee of $25 and participants pay their own hotel, except for one in which hotel will be booked by the excursion host at an additional cost.

Oregon Wine Board to Develop Six Excursions for WMC20

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The Oregon Wine Board will develop three pre-conference excursions and three post-conference excursions for the 2020 Wine Media Conference, taking place August 20 – 22 in Eugene. This will allow the expected 220 – 250 conference attendees to visit wine regions throughout Oregon on their visit to the state.

Pre-conference and post-conference excursions have been a staple of the Wine Media Conference for years and are some of the most popular, highly-rated events attached to the conference. The excursions allow media to visit a region outside the conference location, experiencing wineries, meeting industry leaders, and tasting wines. In 2020 these excursions can be one, two, or three days long and might take place in any of the 19 AVAs across five winegrowing regions of Oregon, which are Willamette Valley, Southern Oregon, the Columbia Gorge, Columbia Valley, and the Snake River Valley.

Having the Oregon Wine Board participate is a boon for conference attendees as well as wine regions as the Oregon Wine Board represents all wineries and growers across the state. They will help ensure the quality of excursions is high and the breadth of excursion choice is diverse. Excursion locations and details will be announced in February.

Plus, the Oregon Wine Board has great experience organizing press tours for wine writers. Here are quotes from three recent writers:

“The trip to Oregon may have been one of the best I have ever been on because of the outdoor activities…”

“Thank you for a fantastic experience. My head is swimming with all the information given to us. And with wonderful memories of food and wine. You did so much to keep us informed and comfortable… It was a huge project to set up, and you did it so thoroughly and tirelessly.”

“That was the most amazing—personal, professional, useful, fun—road trip ever!  Thank you for connecting us to your regions’ great talents. And for being our support and companions on the road.”

According to the Oregon Vineyard & Winery Report, released by the Oregon Wine Board, the state now has 793 wineries across its 19 winegrowing regions. The Willamette Valley is the premier wine region in the state, with 592 wineries, most of them in the north. However, the South Willamette Valley added more wineries in 2018 than any other region of the state (16) and now has 89 wineries. There are 201 wineries in Oregon located outside the Willamette Valley: in Central Oregon, the Columbia Gorge, urban Portland, the Walla Walla Valley, and in Southern Oregon’s Rogue, Applegate, and Umpqua valleys.

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The Oregon Wine Board is a semi-independent Oregon state agency managing marketing, research and education initiatives that support and advance the Oregon wine and wine grape industry. The Board works on behalf of all Oregon wineries and independent growers throughout the state’s diverse winegrowing regions.

 

Wine Media Conference Will Be in Eugene, Oregon in 2020

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The 13th annual Wine Media Conference will take place August 20 – 22, 2020 in Eugene, the Willamette Valley, Oregon.

We know and love Oregon, having held the 2012 conference in Portland. That is one reason we are very excited to be heading south, to the fun, small city of Eugene. The city, with a population of approximately 170,000, is home to the flagship University of Oregon, which gives the region of strong dose of culture. Situated in the middle of farmlands, farm-to-table cuisine augments the wine, beer, and spirits scenes. Eugene is an outdoors haven, situated smack between the Cascade Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. It is one of the best small cities in the country and we are excited to be headed there.

According to the Oregon Vineyard & Winery Report, released by Oregon Wine, the state now has 793 wineries. The Willamette Valley is the premier wine region in the state, with 592 wineries, most of them in the north. However, the South Willamette Valley added more wineries in 2018 than any other region of the state (16) and now has 89 wineries.

Everyone thinks of Pinot Noir as the dominant grape in Oregon and it is, with 59% of production in 2018. Other major varietals include Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, and Syrah. But this hardly tells the tale. Production and sales of Oregon wine are strong. Oregon wines are also getting an outsized share of high ratings. From 2015 – 2017, with only 1.5% of US production, Oregon wines received almost 20% of 90+ ratings by Wine Spectator. That magazine’s Tim Fish wrote in March 2019 “Oregon is the most dynamic wine region in the U.S. right now,” and “Oregon is only beginning to tap into its potential.”

As always, the success of the Wine Media Conference depends on support from local hosts and sponsors. We are excited to be working with Travel Lane County, the Willamette Valley Wineries Association, the South Willamette Wineries Association, and Oregon Wine to enhance events and activities at the conference.

Post WBC12 Blog Posts & Social Stats

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The Wine Bloggers’ Conference of 2012 has come and gone. Many pinots were drunk, new friendships formed, and memories of our time in Oregon made. Penticton is just a short 9 months away, and before we dedicate ourselves fully to organizing WBC13, we get to analyze some of the data from WBC12, and we get to read blogs!

Oh, so many blogs!

So what have we been finding out since reading some of your posts since the conference? Here are just a few of the highlights:

Randall Grahm’s keynote speech on Friday inspired a lot of wine bloggers in the audience (minus a few who were not so moved).

The Neuroscience of Wine breakout session became a popular blog topic.

There were fun parties!

Many bloggers took advantage of being in Oregon and arranged their own trips and visits to Oregon’s wine regions before and after the conference!

Despite the speed at which the live blogging sessions moved, there were a lot of carefully crafted and detailed reviews of the wines!

If you want to read all the blogs written, over 100 posts with links are now in our WBC12 Blog Post Directory. If you don’t see your post on the list, leave it as a comment.

Now on to stats!

Here are just some of the few interesting tid-bits
of how loud and far reaching your voices were heard throughout the weekend (#WBC12 trended WORLDWIDE at least 4 different times!!)

#WBC12 was mentioned in 16,200 tweets by 1905 different users reaching almost 4 million people and making 50 million impressions on the web.

“Wine Bloggers Conference” was mentioned on the web with the word “Oregon” 73,400 times and this number is increasing daily. The Wine Bloggers Conference has seen 112 Facebook posts since the conference. 86% of the #WBC12 social media market takes place in the US, followed by Canada and then the UK. The “Wine Bloggers Conference has been mentioned on at least 212 blogs and websites within the last 16 days (and is growing daily). And there have been at least 14 videos related to the conference that have been published.

It’s exciting to see that the WBC12 conversations are continuing on Facebook, Twitter, and in your posts; it’s equally exciting to see that so many people have already registered for WBC13 and are starting online conversations about our pending arrival in Penticton!! It’s going to be a fun 9 months of anticipation!

– cindy


 

 

Oregon wineries uncork some of their best for the Wine Bloggers

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There have been tours and lunches and this evening an amazing reception by the Oregon Wine Board; and the 5th annual Wine Bloggers conference hasn’t even officially begun.

Tomorrow the registration desk is open and a series of workshops and talks begin but tonight was a night for old friends to come together and new friends to put a face with the blogs they have been following. It was also a night to sample some of the best of Oregon wines.

Charles Humble of the Oregon Wine Board
Charles Humble of the Oregon Wine Board displays their new logo.

Over 45 wineries from around Oregon were on hand to uncork their best for the wine bloggers. Allan Wright, Zephyr Adventures and conference coordinator, introduced Charles Humble and Michael Donovan of the Oregon Wine Board who greeted the bloggers.  After a quick toast to the conference everyone got back to the business of wine tasting.

In an article from today’s Oregonian,  Dana Tims reports that  “the real clout [of the wine blogger] is the collective message they will send to the world after the conference, which is precisely why the state’s $2.7 billion wine industry is paying such close attention to them.”  CLICK HERE to read the full article about the Wine Bloggers Conference and the Oregon Wine Board.

Follow the hashtage #WBC12 on twitter to catch all the events as they happen over the next couple of days.

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