Winesmith

You wouldn't believe it by looking at the frequency I've been posting here, but blogging has actually become a significant part of my work week lately.

We just launched Regional Biz Blog at the office, and though the blog is still finding its voice and needs to do some outreach, Kim Hart of the Washington Post linked to our new blog from the Post's IT blog linked today.

Kim, who also wrote the bloggers and marketers article last summer, also linked to www.winesmithblog.com and noted that I'm happy to be getting paid to blog at work. Unfortunately, I won't be getting paid to blog for Winesmith.

However, Winesmith did score 5 lovely bottles of Cameron Hughes wine, though, as a media sample. I've had the two whites and the sparkler and will be writing about the experience soon.

An article by Field Maloney published yesterday in Slate breathes new life into the wine snob vs. beer snob discussion from last year on Winesmith. Among other insights, Maloney notes how wine is now more strongly associated with passion (which anybody can have) instead of pedigree and refinement (which are associated with the privileged classes).

Winesmith thought the article fell short on talking about the democratization of wine, and chimed in during the online discussion hosted by the author on washingtonpost.com (also published on Slate.com). I brought up “critter labels” and the advent of wine blogging by wine enthusiasts as testament to this democratization.

Maloney agreed (and kindly included a link to this blog) but he disagreed with my second point about how more people now recognize that wine and food enhance each other, whereas beer is primarily a refresher that washes food down.

What do you think? Is a beer just a refresher...or does it match wine’s ability to pair with food?

Winesmith started this blog one year ago today. I was in Washington State with Mrs. Winesmith (then my fiancée) and we had just returned from visiting some wineries and tasting rooms north of Seattle.

I had been thinking about starting a blog because I needed a writing outlet and because I needed to learn about blogging and wine. So -- with the support and inspiration of Mrs. Winesmith -- I started Winesmithblog.com and set a couple goals: get free wine and get mentioned in the Washington Post.

In addition to accomplishing both goals, the past year has had many memorable moments, including:

• Rubber chicken at the White House
• Red flannel pajamas in West Virginia
• A free stay at the luxurious Jordan Winery
• Winesmith paraphernalia
• Influencing the DC mayoral election
• Connecting with Stephen Colbert and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton
• Interviewing Tony Snow
• NASCAR’s wine chuggers
• Carlo Rossi
• An unnoticed yet racist overtone in George “Macaca” Allen’s wine preferences
• 4 wedding wines

So...thanks to everybody for a memorable year. I know Winesmith hasn’t posted much in the last several months, but I’m committed to keeping this blog alive. And after our beautiful Baby Winesmith gets a little older, I expect to return to more regular postings.

Thanks again for a wonderful year.

-Winesmith

Winesmith got some practice “craft time” today. We colored eggs today with a kit we received as a gift, and here’s one of my creations. Not as cool as a peeps diorama, but I thought it was an image worth sharing.

Winesmith is delinquent in providing a review of 1000 Best Wine Secrets, a book sent to me by the publisher. I should be posting about it within a week or so.

In the meantime, though, I thought I’d share an 2nd-hand review of Sippy Cups Are Not for Chardonnay: And Other Things I Had to Learn as a New Mom. Mrs. Winesmith recently read this book, and it must be a good read...judging from the number of times my wife laughed out loud and then handed the book to me to read a passage.

I remember an anecdote about the author and her husband doing high-fives and tequila shots on the baby’s first birthday to celebrate that they and the baby survived the first year -- no birthday cake and streamers for the baby because she wouldn’t remember it anyway. And here’s a line from the promo at Amazon: "Your baby doesn't need to be making friends at three months old -- you do! But not with people you'll meet at Mommy & Me."

I didn’t read the passage that referenced sippy cups and chardonnay, but judging from the tone of the book, I wouldn’t be surprised if the author recommends putting a your vodka-n-tonic in a sippy cup.

In the last few weeks, Winesmith has received a few messages about the lack of activity on this site in recent months. Phred Firecloud left a message, a handful of people emailed me, and I’m sure my brother removed this site from his bookmarks.

I have a very good excuse for the lull, but the lull can't go on any longer because I miss blogging. Besides, I was recently asked whether I was available to speak on behalf of wine bloggers at a DC-area Wine 2.0 event...something I hope to do, but wouldn’t feel right about doing if I’m not still blogging.

And just tonight, the good people at Twisted Oak (with the awesome blog -- and awesome wine -- at www.elbloggotorcido.com) let me know that they’ll be in the DC area next month. Hopefully we’ll be able to meet up. Unfortunately, it might be a bit difficult, and this difficulty is related to the reason I haven’t been blogging much in the last several months. I’ll give you a hint.

It's not as good as free bottles of wine, but a free wine book is nothing to sneeze at.

A marketing rep wrote Winesmith yesterday with a no-strings offer of a free copy of 1000 Best Wine Secrets, and she confirmed today that it’s on its way.

The hope is that I’ll post a review of the book, which I plan to do. And if it's good stuff, it might even become source material for additional postings.

A promo page on the publisher’s web site lists some sample secrets, including: “Knowing when to drink wine.”

I didn’t think that was a secret. Isn’t the answer every day?

A marketing rep called Winesmith today to let me know that the Washington DC International Wine & Food Festival is returning in 2007. It’s coming in a different month (March) and in a different venue, but I’m sure that a few lessons from my Wine Fest Survival Guide from last year still apply.

Last year’s festival was one of Winesmith’s first public appearances, so I have a special fondness for this event. Unfortunately, I’ll be in Philly for part of the weekend, so I won’t be able to attend both days like last year. If you’re thinking about going here’s the details. And once again, there are some promo codes out there, so you might save a little if you search around.

DC Wine Fest Details
March 9 - 11
Reagan Building
One-day tickets are $65 before March 2; $80 thereafter.
Two-day tickets are $85 before March 2, $100 thereafter.
For $150 ($180 beginning March 2) you get the deluxe treatment at a Friday night party.
www.wine-expos.com/dc

Winesmith played doctor this weekend. Some doctor friends were in town for a medical convention, and I posed as a podiatrist to accompany them at some of the social events.

The first event was an elaborate evening of wine and jazz. They poured at least a half-dozen wines, including a few small-production ones, to go with several stations of heavy hors d'oeuvres. Whoever was in charge of wine for this event earned their dollar. My favorite was a 2004 Paul Hobbs Chardonnay.

Then a laser company sponsored a Super Bowl party -- complete with buffet and open bar -- at a local pub, where Dr. Winesmith cheered for the Bears and sipped beer. I’d normally enjoy wine with football, but the craft beer selection was more intriguing than the Yellow Tail wines on the menu.

Anyway...these big-ticket events gave Winesmith some insight into high costs for medical care. But at least the organizers had the good sense to serve wine, so we could get our daily dose of wine’s health-enhancing qualities.

A job at the World Bank can include many perks...like no income tax. It also comes with access to the best workplace cafeteria. Every now and again -- like last Friday -- I get the opportunity to have lunch there.

The cafeteria has several stations offering a quality selection at decent prices. The cafeteria also has bottles of beer and indiviual-sized bottles of wine in the drink cooler. Unfortunately, Sutter Home was the only wine option I saw on my last visit.


Anyway, I thought you’d be interested to know that bottles of Penfolds and Sebastiani took up much of the wine tree. There were also several bottles of what I remember as Four River wine. But in searching online, I’ve only been able to find wine from Three Rivers and Five Rivers. So maybe I miscounted.

There's nothing like sipping wine while watching a midget and Latoya Jackson play cops & robbers in Armed & Famous.

I can't remember what I was drinking, but the final, absentminded gulp was 80% sediment. I thought I loved all aspects of wine until I sucked down the dregs of this cheap-o bottle.

Moral of the story: pay attention when pouring the bottom the bottle into your glass. And if you pour too much, take your eyes off the tele before that last gulp.

The inner geek in me (you don't have to look that deep) loves looking at the stats on this blog, which usually tell me how people come to winesmithblog.com. You'd be surprised at how many people search for “Jay Z vs Cristal” or "tequila cold remedy" or "turning water into wine" or even "expensive boyfriend."

Seeing these searches generally make me smile. But this morning I was saddened when I saw that this blog was the top result for some poor soul who googled "cutting back on drinking wine."

I was relieved, however, when I saw the result: "Keep drinking wine!"

If I ever run for political office, this photo will come back to haunt me. But if this photo helps me get a bottle of free wine, I'll take the risk for a short-term gain.

In June I blogged about a Chicago Tribune article suggesting a $688 case for newlywed wine lovers and a $230 case for novices.

Just in case any of my readers were invited to the wedding and thinking of splurging on a case of wine for us, I suggested the $230 case and $450 in cash.

Now that the wedding bills are all paid, I have no gripes about the recent gift of a case of Chateau Malescot St. Exupery (2000) we received as a belated gift from a very generous friend. I'm sure it'll be the last case of Grand Cru Classe wine we receive for a long while.

We're very tempted, but we're waiting for a few months before we open our first bottle. If we have the patience, we'll try to sip these bottles slowly over the coming years.