Proposal for a Wine Blogging Day
Many of you have either heard of or participated in Is My Blog Burning? -- a monthly blog cooking event that is the brainchild of Alberto over at Il Forno. It's grown and grown over the past few months and it's has me thinking...can we do something similar with wine?
Now, when it comes to wine...there isn't nearly as much flexibility as there is with a theme like, say, soup. But, I think with a little creativity, we can come up with something that will be fun and a learning experience for all the oenophile bloggers out there!
The first "press" of the World Wide Wine Blogging Wednesday will take place on Wednesday, September 1st (it may take some time to get the word out, so let's start it a little over a month from now).
The theme: Inexpensive New World Merlot that is not from the United States
The rules...don't spend more than 15USD on the bottle. It must come from a New World wine nation that isn't the U.S., which leaves you places such as Australia, Argentina, New Zealand and Chile. Once you drink the wine (hopefully with friends!() you should post a picture of the bottle/label and write a little blurb with your impressions of the wine, what food you either did or would pair with it and, if possible, post an "official" tasting note for the wine. You can often find those online. I like to read those first and then compare it with what my palate tastes. It's a good way to learn as well.
Who's with me?
If you're up for it, and I hope you are, leave a comment and when you post on September 1st, email me a link and I'll write a wrap-up on the 2nd.
And remember all are welcome -- newbies, experts and winos. Wine is supposed to be fun...not snooty or snobby!
That's an interesting idea. Seems like fun. Count me in.
Posted by: Derrick Schneider | July 27, 2004 at 05:09 PM
I'm "in" too.
Posted by: the vamp | July 27, 2004 at 05:18 PM
I am absolutely on board! That sounds like a fabulous idea and a great time!
Posted by: Irene | July 27, 2004 at 05:50 PM
Hey Lenn,
Nice idea (he said while sipping his 2-buck-chuck). I'm a Philistine with respect to wine, but I'll jump in. Thanks (nice blog too).
Posted by: dave | July 27, 2004 at 06:05 PM
Sounds like fun! I know absolutely nothing about wine and really only drink it on special occasions - but seems like this qualifies!
Posted by: Cathy | July 27, 2004 at 07:02 PM
Why not Italian merlot... ? It's ssso good ;)
Posted by: Iaia | July 28, 2004 at 10:34 AM
Sorry, I didn't read carefully the theme... A new world wine nation. Sorry :(
Posted by: Iaia | July 28, 2004 at 10:36 AM
Lenn. Count me in. I've observed the IMBB events for a while and definitely think there's an equivalent for us in the wine world. Let's make sure to do a good roundup at the end so that its easy for people to quickly access all of the blogs that participated.
Happy to do New World (but not USA) Merlot.
You mention the inflexibility of wine as opposed to the themes from IMBB like "soup." One of the nice things these IMBB themes is inventiveness of the various chefs. Having everyone review a certain varietal or something from a specific geography will get us one particular type of variation, which can teach us all a little about the wines themselves and which ones are good.
However, for round #2 we could also consider picking a recipe, an easily available dish (e.g. pizza) or even a foodstuff (a particular cheese avialable anywhere, etc.) and have everyone pick a wine to pair with it, which would be a way of us learning from others about how to pair wine and food. This would give us the benefits of both reviews/tasting notes for the wines as well as bringing a little more flexibility and innovation that you see with IMBB.
Looking forward to it.
Posted by: Alder | July 28, 2004 at 03:02 PM
That is a great idea...let's keep beating the drum and getting the word out about the wine event...and if someone wants to host round 2...just let me know!
Posted by: LT | July 28, 2004 at 03:55 PM
Lenn: I have always wanted to keep a wine journal -- hopefully your new inventive off-shoot of IMBB? will help me to do just that!
Yay!
Posted by: Jennifer | July 28, 2004 at 06:43 PM
i'm all for it!
i blog on wine here:
http://www.enochchoi.com/thoughts/archives/cat_wine.html
Posted by: enoch choi | July 29, 2004 at 02:43 AM
I'm a wine idiot but I'd like to learn more about wine, so count me in too!
Posted by: ladygoat | July 29, 2004 at 03:40 PM
non-us merlot, i might ba able to come out of summer vacation for that one.. I'm in.
The Caveman
Posted by: william | July 30, 2004 at 09:17 AM
Fabulous idea. What bugs me about wine is that people get attached to one or two favourites and so everytime they run into the liquor store they grab their stalwarts. I would love if this, by being thematically inclined, gets people into new flavours and rocks the hell out of their palates. Ahem, I'm in.
Posted by: Daphne | July 30, 2004 at 06:51 PM
I'm in with something local. Nice idea but if it's only one bottle, there'll be no friends involved
Posted by: anthony | August 12, 2004 at 05:40 AM
Count me in too! Sounds like a great idea.
My (anti-snob) wine site is VineSugar
Posted by: Ryan | August 18, 2004 at 11:23 AM
We're definitely in - great idea.
Posted by: Mariquita | August 18, 2004 at 02:30 PM
i blogged it:
http://www.enochchoi.com/thoughts/archives/001115.html
Posted by: enoch choi | September 01, 2004 at 12:43 AM
Too Many Chefs is in at http://www.toomanychefs.com/archives/001158.html">http://www.toomanychefs.com/archives/001158.html">http://www.toomanychefs.com/archives/001158.html
Great idea, Lenn!
Posted by: barrett | September 01, 2004 at 01:11 AM
Great idea, Lenn! How can I get involved in Round Two?
Posted by: Molly | September 01, 2004 at 11:09 AM
Well, rats. I just saw this - a day late. Cool idea. If you do something similar to this again, I hope I'll be paying attention early enough.
Posted by: llizard | September 02, 2004 at 11:02 PM
How can I get in on this...? Would LOVE to participate next time!
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Posted by: chris Maley | March 28, 2006 at 04:17 PM
Thanks so much for the great idea, I can't wait to get started!
www.inferiorogood.blogspot.com
Posted by: Whit Stevens | July 06, 2006 at 12:09 AM