Today marks the first day of a 10-day window that allows you, dear reader, to nominate your favorite wine blogger for any of seven categories in the First American Wine Blog Awards.
Presented by Tom Wark at Fermentations, a well-read blog largely devoted to industry-related topics, the American Wine Blog Awards is an inspiration to those bloggers who have devoted themselves to publishing at least 52 blog posts in 2006 about wine or wine-related activities.
The seven categories are:
It’s difficult to say if “winehiking” classifies as a single subject, but that probably shouldn’t stop you from nominating this little ol’ e-rag in that category if you choose to. Quite possibly you’ll feel that Winehiker Witiculture also qualifies to be nominated in the Best Wine Blog Writing category. In the meantime, I see I’ve been nominated at least once for Best Overall Wine Blog. I’ve even done a little nominating myself. I would even nominate Fermentations, too, but Tom has wisely removed himself from any perceived conflict of interest.
If you wish to nominate Winehiker Witiculture or any other wine-related blog for any of this year’s awards, you only have to click on one of the categories above, then add a comment that can list up to three nominees. You’ll see plenty of examples in these comments already, so following suit will be mighty easy to do.
I kind of lost track of how many posts I wrote in 2006, but it was somewhere in the neighborhood of 250. Yet I frankly don’t expect to win an award. After all, there are already quite a variety of top-notch bloggers out there in Wine Land who engage their readers with excellent writing and a demonstrated wine knowledge greater than my own. Whether or not I win any of these seven awards, I intend to celebrate with my blogging brethren and sistren when the awards are presented later this year.
Because you choose to read this blog or any wine-related blog, Tom Wark offers us a great point to remember, and that is: good wine blogs, like good wines, are good for your brain. As an avid reader of many wine blogs, I can surely vouch for that.
From the depths of my heart, thank you, dear reader, for choosing to read my words this year.
Oh boy, if these past 72 hours are any indication of how the remainder of 2007 will go, I’m in deep doo-doo. Seems everywhere I turn there’s fine chocolates, wines, and coffees being thrust upon me.
A foodie guy like me could get used to that. Too used to it, especially since I spent the winter eating instead of hibernating.
Saturday, after my housemate did a Costco run, found me greedily unwrapping Scharffenberger chocolates and sipping a 10-year-old Taylor Fladgate port. This after dining on a twenty-five-dollar lamb roast (that I happily prepared with garden rosemary) and quaffing a 2001 Brunello di Montalcino. Oh, the decadence! I went to bed that evening, my senses pleasantly satiated but my innards uncomfortably gorged.
As if that wasn’t already sensory overload, Sunday’s hiking tour and picnic at Picchetti Ranch in the Cupertino foothills culminated in a tasting of Picchetti’s generously-poured panel of whites and reds, including their Zinfandel port and some fine Belgian chocolates brought along for the occasion by one of my fellow hikers. I think Picchetti sold about 10 bottles of that port to us yesterday as a result.
This morning I arrived at work and was called into my boss’ office. We’d had an open issue to discuss and, while mentally prepared for it, I instead walked into a pile of assorted Belgian chocolates. A gift from one of our European colleagues, they were a welcome complement to the Peet’s coffee from our kitchen. “Pick one!” declared my boss. I dared to deplete my internal supply of oxidating agents further and chose an 86% cacao. Yum.
And now I feel like I must go churn up about 20 miles of trail dust while singing every song I know. It’s a nice day; think anyone will mind if I come back to work in about six hours?
Most people who set their minds to writing regularly know that the fountain of words can go dry at times. At other times the fountain freely flows. Sometimes I review my recent scribblings and feel as if I’ve been not much more than a hack, offering information and viewpoints that are at best subcutaneous. It’s at these times that I feel a certain self-induced pressure to knuckle down and deliver more depth of feeling, more insight into my chosen niche. It’s not easy to respond to that pressure day in and day out. And feeling that pressure isn’t good for my spirits.
Which is, of course, why I often think about work-life balance issues, and choose to regularly pursue them by working my body outdoors and inviting others to join me. That welcome foray into Nature - filling my lungs, stretching my legs - returns a fresh vitality and perspective to all pursuits, and I find I can channel that energy back through the keyboard.
Even then, the fountain doesn’t always flow. I know that for me, the long nights of Winter, coupled with the routine of working full-time at a job that doesn’t allow me to see much of the winter sun, can combine to dwindle the enthusiasm, engender misaligned notions of self-doubt, and cause me to eat things I shouldn’t.
It’s positively refreshing, then, when welcome words arrive from out of the blue - words from people I have never met, yet whom have felt strongly enough that they are compelled to spill forth from their own fountains.
I may be a hack at times, but it would seem that my voice resonates downstream:
“Many of us urban dwellers are so disassociated from nature that we need a facilitated experience to get out into it. There is so much to connect with when hiking, from your own inner reflections that never have the quiet or time to flourish in the hubbub of normal daily working life or the identification with and nurturing of direct contact with living diversity (that is sadly quickly disappearing) rather than the usual barrage of inanimate structures and machines of modern administration that hamper and twist our bodies’ energies into confused jumbles of emotional justifications.” ~Z.W.
“Ahhhhh those rolling hills and trees look so very familiar to me. I come from California and used to live on the East side of the San Francisco Bay in San Ramon. We used to love going up to Napa and doing the wine tour deal. Great memories. Would love to up my vacation plans to be a bit more active and adventurous.” ~D.L.
“As a mostly single traveller, I have looked in the past for some tours that would welcome singles as well as couples. I think you make a good point, Russ, in that more people are looking to get away for shorter trips but to really get away from it all. Good for you for doing something you love!” ~O.O.
“Obviously, you’re doing what you love, honoring your soul, and for that, I applaud you. I think your company sounds awesome. Based in LA, my wife and I were avid backpackers (Eastern Sierra-Whitney, Cottonwood, Jordan Hot Springs), before the birth of our daughter. Now she’s 5, and we’ve gotten her range up to 2 miles. Most of her friends can’t walk 2 blocks without whining, and don’t play tag with my daughter if you’re 8 or under - you’ll never catch her. Your company is such a positive force in the world; I’m sure that many of your clients begin or continue hiking after the positive experience they have on your trips, which extend and enhance their life, improves their attitudes, and generally makes the world a better place. I was overweight and docile as a kid and teenager, but walking 30 miles a week has made me more fit at 41 than I was at 21, so I’m a believer. Keep it up.” ~W.K.
From such fountains, rivers flow. And I am an ocean of gratitude this morning.
I think I’ll offer a big “Howdy!” and thanks to a few bloggers who have kindly chosen to link to Winehiker Witiculture these last couple of weeks. The following folks aren’t necessarily into wine, hiking, travel, or California as a general rule, but they are interesting in their own right. Give ‘em a look!
The High Priestess Kang lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, but wants to live in Sweden. She “cares very strongly for a plethora of things in this world” and her patron saint is Timmy from South Park. The High Priestess profusely “wags tentacles at half-wits” on her blog, The World According to Kang.
Thomas at The Blog Wine Cellar is a sommelier and has been blogging wine reviews since March of 2006. I think he’d make a great copywriter for the Wine Spectator. But he sure knows his wine.
I wonder what events led to the creation of A Bowl of Stupid, a blog that presents the ramblings of a former attorney who is attempting to reclaim his soul. For having only been at it since November, Matt Kish has been a blogging madman, writing about topics he might even understand. If it’s about entertainment, world news, Internet marketing, law, and surfing, Matt is blogging about it. What, Matt - no wine reviews? 
Though he’s only been part of the blogging scene since September ‘06 (not counting his MySpace page), CJ at A Bit of This and That Blog is quite into the experiential aspects of life - in fact, quite a variety of them. From art and graphics to drumming, and from his Celtic heritage to relationship issues, CJ, who also calls himself RhythmHippy and hails from Escondido, California, wears a lot of hats. I believe he’s got a winehiking hat stashed back there on the closet shelf behind those piles of empty cigarette cartons.
Jeff at The Wine Blog at NapaSpa.com has been reading a lot of blogs. But that’s because he’s just started blogging. It was a natural progression: Jeff’s already been operating the popular Napa Valley California Message Board and the Sonoma Valley California Directory, plus he’s an online display ad media buyer with a recent stint at winecountry.com. Add all that to the categories he’s got listed on his blog, and you can probably expect great things from Jeff in 2007.
All in all, a fine bunch of folks whom I’m sure I wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley. However, we’d all probably do just fine together kicking up trail dust and washing it down with just the right grape juices. Blog on!
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From Fermentation:
Nominations in the various categories for the 2007 American Wine Blog Awards will begin on January 8 and run through January 18.
The Categories in which nominations will be sought are:
Descriptions for each category will be restated when nominations open. However, they can be viewed on Fermentation.
Who will you nominate?
Tom Wark generated some good fodder for discussion on his blog yesterday. Because terroir is such a rich and stimulating topic, I brought the discussion here to Winehiker Witiculture, and a couple of you have contributed. Since yesterday, and having read Tom’s post of today, I was struck by how odd it is that he and I have viewed the traits and perceptions behind this topic as opposing notions. You can see this in the way we titled our posts: “Pleasure vs. Intellectual Stimulation” in Tom’s case, “Value vs. Terroir” in mine.  They are not necessarily opposites.  Â
There will always be disparate audiences for wine reviewers to address. I’m certainly behind educating the consumer who, when possessed of knowledge, will continue to seek further knowledge where that knowledge is imparted. We as writers about wine cannot push consumers where they don’t want to go; we can only gently coax them to follow along. Upon determining a shifting critical mass, I’ll agree that the good wine writers will choose to educate themselves further toward retaining their leadership (and their readership), if not also promote their love of wines more fully.  However, while wine writers can be considered de facto leaders to their audiences, and while winemakers will promote regional distinctions, the consumer will still vote with his or her pocketbook. As a result, there will always be a market for value-driven wine purchases, and there will always be wine reviewers who will cater to them.  Â
Terroir, that regional amalgam of soil, slope, climate, and seasonality, is indeed important as it yields definition and characteristics to wine. But just why is it important? Tom postulates that the characteristics derived from terroir are intellectually stimulating, because:Â Â Â
These are well-considered points, and I’ll agree. Yet when terroir is known (i.e., the label is known; the tasting of the wine is not conducted in a blind manner), terroir is not the only factor that could or should govern a wine review. There is also pleasure, with and without food. Yes, there is also intellectual stimulation. All are part of the greater value set that by definition includes bang for the buck – that most tangible element which ultimately drives the majority of wine consumers to buy a particular wine. ~winehikerÂ
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