Wine Bottles, Stoppers and trips

A year ago, I wrote my first wine blog. A number of friends had encouraged me to share my thoughts on wine, beer and spirits. I had just finished reading Gary Vaynerchuk's book, "Crush It". The book dealt with finding your passion and following that passion. Much of the book talked about how to take advantage of the internet. At that time, I had heard about a website called Quora.com, and joined that site. I have since become one of the "answer people" for wine related questions on that website. Some of my blog ideas come from the questions that others have posed, and many of my subjects come from you the readers, as well as members of my wine club.

In the Agave Fields of Mexico

Over the last year, I've written on numerous subjects. We've explored the techniques for evaluating a wine, and looked at the lowly Agave plant and the wonderful Tequila it produces. What I find interesting is who is reading this blog. Behind the scenes, there is a stats page, that I can evaluate the website. As expected, the majority of readers are from the United States, coming in at 65%. I'm actually surprised it is that low. Germany, The United Kingdom, Canada, France, Russia and Australia make up another 15% of the readers.

Wine Bottles

I've seen the readership grow by ten times over the last year, and it seems the most read article was the one about wine bottles. It goes to show that you never know what people will want to read about. I didn't think the article would be of too much interest, but wrote it after getting some questions about why wine bottles are a certain color. The second most popular article wasn't much of a surprise: wine stoppers. There is an ongoing argument about whether cork or screwcap is the way to go. I thought this might spark some conversation. Matter of fact, this article had the second most comments posted. The article with the most comments was my blog about wine pairing. I still find this a challenging subject, as taste and pairing are somewhat subjective. I do feel that the guidelines I outlined lay a good groundwork for helping the everyday wine drinker feel more comfortable about their choices.

So, where do we go from here? I am always looking for ideas to share and answer. I continue to learn. My latest reading involves Biodynamic, organic and natural wines. When I visit with winemakers and growers, my questions now lean towards how they treat the grapes in the vineyard and the winery. Can we, as wine lovers, really taste the difference? I think so.

I am expanding my knowledge base, and hope to share some other experiences with you. My restaurant background is limited. I have always been more involved in the education side of being a Sommelier, rather than the service side. That being said, I enjoy cooking, and pairing wines. Or, should I say, drinking wines, and making the foods that I think will go best with them. Spanish, French and Italian cuisine have been a focus of late. Learning their cooking techniques and use of ingredients has been eye-opening, and I hope to share some of these "discoveries" over the coming months. For those of you on Facebook, please join my page there: www.Facebook.com/SommelierUpdate. On the Facebook page, I share daily articles pulled from the news pages, that concern wine and the wine industry.

Grapes on the vine

I hope you have enjoyed the articles over the last year, and will continue to visit this site, and share your comments, and questions. Additionally, I hope you will share this site with your friends, and we will grow together in our wine knowledge, and experiences. The one thing about wine, beer and spirits...they are changing all the time. New technologies, new ideas, and new vintages.

Thank you for the past year, and I look forward to sharing with you for another year to come, and don't forget to vote for this site on LocalWineEvents.com, by going to http://www.localwineevents.com/resources/blogs/view/1494/the-sommelier-update, and clicking on the "Vote for this Blog" button.