Random Thoughts and Tasting Notes: Wine Bloggers' Conference Field Trip!

All hail the power of Twitter and Hubby's new FourSquare addiction! In the week since we returned from the Pacific Northwest, the question has not been, "How was your trip?" but rather, "Sounds like y'all had a great trip!" It was, and this journey got off to a great start with the Wine Bloggers' Conference in Walla Walla.

One of the best parts of the conference was the excursion on Saturday morning. Hubby and I stayed a few blocks from the Marcus Whitman Hotel & Conference Center, and as I walked down Second Avenue dodging sprinklers and watching the morning sunlight sparkle on the dewy grass, I couldn't help but be reminded of early mornings leaving for Band Camp (not nearly as exciting as portrayed in the movie American Pie). This feeling was only reinforced by reaching the Marcus Whitman parking lot and seeing a herd of… School buses!

Oh, wow. For a moment, I looked for the drum major coach (whom we called Torpedo Tits – don't ask) to jump out and ask why I didn't have my alto saxophone. Then I remembered where I was, and with a grin, walked inside to catch the second half of the talk on Walla Walla Terroir. It was fascinating. I wished I'd gotten my butt out of bed in time to hear the whole thing.

Only a limited number of people were allowed on each bus due to winery lunch capacity, so the bus wasn't even half full. Of course, there were the noisy kids/percussion section in back (the British Banfi crew from New York – yeah, I'm still confused about that), the overachievers/brass section in front (the Wine Talk Radio guys and Josh Wade of Nectar Wine blog), and the rest of us/woodwinds in the middle (those I can remember: Ben Simons of Vinotology, Kitri McGuire of Sokol Blosser Winery, Tamara Belgard of Sip With Me, and Randy the Wine Whore who is not whore-ish at all in real life). Oh, and Nicky Vallee, The Vino Chick, who was the only one to turn out a true performance (see below). I apologize if I'm forgetting someone or if I've put you in the wrong section. I'm doing this from memory two weeks later. Consider yourselves lucky – my original analogy was going to be Gilligan's Island.

Our first stop on this "mystery tour," as the papers handed out by our guide told us, would be the vineyards of Woodward Canyon. That meant our school bus had to go up a steep hill. I had flashbacks to bus stalls, but it made it up, and we had a breathtaking view:



At that point, we were given glasses and poured tastes of the 2008 Sauvignon Blanc. At 9:30 in the morning. I told myself it was after noon at home. It was great first wine of the day, very crisp. They then poured the 2007 Walla Walla Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Syrah, and 8% Cabernet Franc) and 2006 Estate Red (42% Cabernet Franc, 35% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 9% Petit Verdot). Both reds were good, but I liked the 07 Cab better. I did end up spitting, although it felt so rude to do that in front of winemaker Rick Small as he talked about his passion. We even got to see baby Merlot grapes:



The next stop was Beresan Winery, which was showcased with Tertullia Cellars and Balboa Winery. We tried:

2008 Beresan Semillon, a nice, light white

2008 Beresan Cabernet: elegant with mint on the nose and tongue-coating fruit

2009 Tertullia Viognier: winemaker Quentin Mylet's first effort, this Viognier had great balance between fruit and floral as well as a great, crisp texture

Quentin Mylet with Beresan's Tom Waliser in the background joining us in a taste:


2007 Balboa Mith: a yummy Cab-Syrah blend

This was also where Drink Nectar's Josh Wade distinguished himself as an overachiever by being the one to jump out with the first guess as to what was in the Mith blend. He wasn't exactly right, but mad props to him for being the brave one! This group of wineries also sent us off with a great parting gift: freshly picked cherries! I challenged Randy the Wine Whore to a spitting contest, but he didn't take me up on it. As Ed Thralls of Wine Tonite responded when I tweeted about it, "Whores don't spit."

Band camp maturity level, anyone?

We finished up at Whitman Cellars for lunch and a tasting lineup from them and Walla Walla Vintners. I felt quite welcome at this winery. The sign:



Catered lunch of Southwestern chicken sandwich and salad in the barrel room:





We even got a treat with Nicky Vallee (@Vinochick75 on Twitter) giving us a rendition of one of my favorite songs, Landslide. See my thoughts on the Wine Bloggers' Conference post for a link to the YouTube video, but here's a picture:



I kind of wished at that point that I'd brought my alto sax.

The real stars, the wines:

Whitman:

2008 Viognier: aromatic with hints of apple and pear, floral finish

2005 Narcissa Red: some ripeness, food-friendly, a little "hot"

2005 "Silk Stocking" Cabernet Sauvignon: 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc – lives up to its name with nice, smooth fruit

Walla Walla Vintners:

2007 Sangiovese (blended with a little Malbec and Syrah): nicely rounded fruit

2008 Sangiovese: pretty much as one would expect for the grape

Cabernet Franc: a little cedar on the nose and good red fruit

Then it was back on the bus for our return to the Marcus Whitman. After that, I took advantage of time for one thing we never got in band camp: a nap!

Random Thoughts: On the Wine Bloggers' Conference

When I told my friends I was going to a wine bloggers' conference, they looked at me skeptically and then asked, "What are you going to do there?" No doubt they pictured a lot of intense people sitting through seminars with intriguing titles like, "Distinguishing funkiness: forest floor vs. barnyard" or "101 ways to describe tannins." Honestly, I wasn't sure what to expect, either, having only attended academic conferences to that point.

Part of a successful conference is the venue, but my friends' and colleagues' (at least the ones who don't know much about wine) reactions toward Walla Walla was one of scorn for this adorable little town. It's a great place for two reasons:

1. The plethora of wine tasting rooms within easy walking distance of my hotel.

2. The lack of humidity and pleasant temperature. We left HOT AND HUMID AS HELL Atlanta on Thursday. Warm and not humid? Really nice.

Keep that in mind if you're one of the bloggers complaining about Virginia next year -- every place has its charm, and Charlottesville has it in spades. I've liked Walla Walla since the first time I went there in 2007, but for some reason it gets a bad rap.

Back to the conference itself... The highlights for me pointed out some lessons that I had forgotten or that I needed to learn:

1. Wine tasting means wine spitting. Yes, this sounds silly, but the biggest surprise for me was how much wine I actually drank while at the conference. Admittedly, I'm not big on spitting. I just can't figure out how to do it gracefully. I did spit, though, at Woodward Canyon's vineyards because, hey, it was 9:00 in the morning, and it was a little too early for even me to start sipping. I did feel badly, particularly because the wine was good, and Rick Small, who is the fifth generation to farm the land (although the first to make wine) was so proud and passionate of the wines they make.

Speaking of crazy wine consumption, you may have seen my blog posts on the speed tastings. Trust me, I don't envy anyone who has subjected themselves to speed dating, although it may go better with a little wine. I poured a lot of good stuff out because there was no way to finish it before the next tasty bottle arrived with harried wine maker/representative/pimp. As for how badly it fried my palate… Let's just say it was so fried it could've been served up with hush puppies and slaw. That was a reminder how important it is to have adequate neutral-flavored munchies between tastes. Btw, mad props to Molly Dooker for bringing the wine with the pettable label:



Oh, and check out this post by Josh Wade at his Drink Nectar blog. He envisions the future of speed wine blogging as a sport. Watch out, Iron Chef!

2. While a love of writing is good, it's passion that will sustain. I felt lucky to witness the following examples of passion:

- Seeing Hardy Wallace speak on Sunday morning's panel. I may not entirely agree with him, seeing myself as a writer who happens to write about wine and not a "content pusher," but I admire his enthusiasm.

- Hearing Tertullia Cellars winemaker Quentin Mylet speak so lovingly of his Viognier, which was his first effort as a fledgling winemaker (and a darn good one). He described it as his "baby."

- Talking to David Honig of Palate Press. He thoroughly believes in what he's doing. He originally approached me about the ad network, but Palate Press also recruits writers. I'd've bitten much sooner if he'd mentioned that.

- Witnessing the efforts of the ladies from Okanagan Valley to start the movement to have the 2012 conference in Canada. Yay for Canadian wine! Boo for Canadian export difficulties!

- Hearing Nicky Vallee sing (@VinoChick75 on Twitter). For those who don’t know her, she is in the process of a reinvention, but one of her core loves is music. I was lucky to be on the bus with her for Saturday's excursion, and she got up and sang with the musicians at lunch. You can see the video here (the risk of hanging out with a bunch of bloggers – good equipment and immediate posting capabilities).

During this conference, I realized that, once I split the fiction off, I lost some of my passion for the Random Oenophile. For me, blog-post writing and fiction writing overlap a lot, and the conference helped me clarify how the skill-set is essentially the same (more about that on a post at Cecilia's Random Writings). I also realized that this split personality thing I have going on is not working for me because I feel too fragmented with the professional/personal dichotomy, and then splitting the fun part into wine and writing. I need to figure out how to give more reign to my creative part and let my other expertise shine through. I'm working on that.

3. Wine is a condiment. This is something the Montaluce guys profess strongly, and I agree. One of the most fun parts of the conference was Chef Jeffrey Saad's lecture on wine and food pairing as well as the actual pairings for lunch afterward by Chef Bear of the Marcus Whitman Hotel. When I'm out wine tasting, it's usually wine in isolation. This was a reminder of how flavors play together. The highlights of the pairing session were:

2009 Tilia Torrontes (Mendoza, Argentina) with Phyllo Bouchee with Monteillet Chevre, Pistachio, and Chestnut Honey
The Torrontes smoothed out the funkiness of the Chevre, while the honey brought out the minerality of the wine. Perfect!

2009 Clean Slate Riesling (Mosel, Germany) with Ahi Poke White Soy on Apricot Namasu (served in mini Chinese takeout containers with chopsticks – too cute!)
The off-dry Riesling and White Soy played so well together we can't wait to try something like this at home.

2004 Rioja Vega Reserva (La Rioja, Spain) with Pork Belly and Pea Vines with Saffron Scented Stock
Fatty Pork Belly and acidic Rioja tamed each other nicely.

2008 Terranoble Grand Reserva Carmenere (Colchagua Valley, Chile) with Oven Dried San Marzano Tomato and Andouille Flat Bread
Okay, this was essentially pizza and red wine, but rich pizza and a big, luscious red. It worked.

The other pairings were good, too. These were my favorites, and I liked them enough that I'll try them at home. Maybe I'll even write about them.

So there you have it, from the mundane to the lofty lessons. I'll do another post on the Saturday excursion, which deserves one of its own, as well as our post-conference wine tasting adventures. I'm still traveling, so free internet is hit or miss, but I'll post as I can.

Oh, and I should mention I'm drinking a beer as I wrote this. There's a saying that it takes a lot of beer to make good wine. It may also take some to recover from a Wine Bloggers Conference.