We are about a week late posting this but we finally have done it.
Well, it was finally Sunday and the last day of WBC 2012. While it was much fun we were happy to know we would have the afternoon free.
First thing was a Q&A session with the three wine blog award winners that were present. They were Julia Crowley of Wine Julia, Lisa Mattson of The Journey of Jordan and Ken Hoggins of Kens Wine Guide.com. It was great to hear each one tell us about how they started and the journey to where they are now. I just wish more winners had been able to make it.
After the Q&A session we had Ignite! What is Ignite! you ask. It is a presentation format where a speaker has five minutes to talk and present twenty slides at fifteen seconds per slide. One was presented really fast paced like an auction and another was an extremely funny comedy routine. All presenters did great and there was a large variety of subjects. I might even try this one day.
Before lunch started we were told about WBC 2013 which will be held in Penticton, British Columbia. The location will allow us to taste wines from the Okanagan Valley, an area that has interested us for some time. As a prelude, the Penticton welcoming committee provided a tasting of the Tinhorn Creek Cabernet Franc 2010, made by Sandra Oldfield who was in attendance at WBC12, the Haywire Swithchback Vineyard Pinot Gris 2011, the Red Rooster Winery Gewürztraminer 2011 and the Tantalus 2010 Pinot Noir. These wines were quite pleasant and definitely piqued our interest.
To finish the last day of the conference we had lunch presented by Conseil Interprofessionnel des Vins du Languedoc. We had tasted the lovely wines of Languedoc during the International Wine tasting, and this was a chance to taste them with a delicious lunch. Along with salads, and sautéd vegetables we had roasted stuffed pork and polenta along with a Cassoulet. We had an opportunity to visit with Thea and Laura, the extremely knowledgeable staff pouring the wines. It was a wonderful ending to a great conference.
I had a really nice Four Roses Single Barrel Bourbon there. Real smooth!
Three days surrounded by wild-eyed wine bloggers—I hope you weren’t under surveillance. Obviously, I need to start blogging about whiskey…
Yeah, I’ve read about that Four Roses. Those guys have really upped their game from when they were a bargain vendor. There are so many great craft bourbons around now!