Josh Wade

Wednesday April 28th at 6pm PT you can follow our tweetchat with Drinknectar.com wine and coffee blogmaster Josh Wade, known on twitter as @nectarwine.

Our line of questioning this week will be on the topic of “blogging, Social Media and H.R. 5034”, The discussion will cover how Josh Wade has built his blog and Social Media presence and the effects of the House Bill attempting new regulations on shipping wine, please send your questions to @craigsutton by direct message or email before the event and include your questions.

Josh’s Bio

Josh Wade is the creator of DrinkNectar.com. DrinkNectar is an expression of Josh’s passion for wine and coffee. Using video reviews and text, DrinkNectar explore the story behind the wine, winery, and coffee shop. The focus begins in Spokane, WA then expands to Washington State, and then to the rest of great wine and coffee world. Josh is a firm believer in the power of social media and has used his platform to create #WAMerlot and most recently to collaborate on StopHR5034 (an effort to end the legislation prohibiting direct shipping of wine).

By day Josh is a project manager for a international financial institution helping to manage the changes occurring in the corporate intranet space. Josh also spent six years as a youth pastor / worship pastor and still enjoys playing guitar in church nearly every week. DrinkNectar is moving toward the launch of several business models including social media consulting, and wine related retail storefronts.

Troy Barrett

Wednesday April 21st at 6pm PT you can follow our tweetchat with news and weather anchor Troy Barrett, known on twitter as @thetroybarrett.

Our line of questioning this week will be on the topic of “wine and the media”, the discussion will cover how wine is impacted by media coverage and what you can do to get the media interested in you! To share your questions for that event early, please contact @craigsutton by direct message or email before the event and include your questions.

Troy’s Bio:

Troy Barrett is the morning news and weather anchor for the local CBS affiliate TV stations KIMA and KEPR Action News. Troy began his professional broadcasting career in Phoenix as a radio disc jockey where he held on-air positions at both KSLX-FM (classic rock) and KBUQ-FM (country at the time).

Troy is a graduate of The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University where he earned a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism with a minor in Physical Geography (Meteorology). Troy’s first on-air television job took him to Southern Oregon where he spent three years providing morning and midday weather forecasts for ABC affiliate KDRV-TV in Medford, Oregon. While in Southern Oregon, Troy fell in love with the wine industry and all that the Rogue, Applegate and Willamette Valleys had to offer. His next TV adventure was going to take him to El Paso, Texas, Troy packed up as much Oregon wine as he could and headed to the borderland. After spending three years in El Paso as a weather forecaster, news anchor and news reporter, Troy jumped at the chance to return to the Northwest so he could live and work in the the greatest wine region in the nation.

“The wine industry here was one of the main reasons I accepted the position at Action News…no, I don’t have a drinking problem…I have a curiosity problem…I want to learn everything about wine and the wine industry.”

craigsutton: Tonight we’re talking “how to blog about wine” discussing keeping it relevant while in the public eye

craigsutton: Don’t forget, you are welcome to comment between questions using the #socialwine hashtag

nwwines: @craigsutton , thx, you already started #socialwine?

craigsutton: If you have ?’s for the guest please DM me or email craig@ikonmg.com, Im checking and will credit you

craigsutton: @NWwines just starting now :)

craigsutton: Hey everyone, whats in your glass? #socialwine Olsen Hills 2007 Malbec for me!

craigsutton: Q1: Hi Sean! Tell us about your introduction to wine…

wawinereport: First thx to @craigsutton for the invite. I’m drinking an 04 Rioja Riserva. Decided to venture out of WA for our discussion.

craigsutton: RT @RedMtnSongbird: @craigsutton Barnard Griffin Chardonnay 2008

wawinereport: A1: Was introduced to wine early in life. Often had wine around the table I would sip. Didn’t get serious until 10 yrs ago tho>.

craigsutton: Q2: When and why did you first start writing about wine?

wawinereport: A2: Started writing probably 2005. I always take a lot of notes. Circulated those to my friends who circulated them to theirs.

wawinereport: A2: The blog started more out of seeing so much #wawine on the shelves I wasn’t reading about..

wawinereport: A2: I still do see a lot of wine on the shelves I don’t read about. So much out there! >

craigsutton: Q3: So why blogging?

wawinereport: A3: I started blogging mainly to experiment with a different medium. Early stuff had been .pdf docs (which I still do). I liked.

wawinereport: A3: the immediacy of the medium. You can get things out there as fast as you can type them. >

craigsutton: Q4: What was the most important benefit you offered to readers to encourage them to read?

wawinereport: A4: What I’ve focused on is trying to dig deeper into areas, people, vineyards. Tell an interesting story.

wawinereport: A4: In WA there are so many great stories. Great stories w great people making great wines. Ive tried to bring those to people >

craigsutton: Q5: How do you view the competition in wine blogging, is there enough?

wawinereport: A5: There are an abundace of blogs out there. Seems to grow by the day. Main thing is to know what you want to do and how you..

wawinereport: A5 you want to differentiate yourself from the thousands (thousands) of wine blogs out there. So I think there are a lot…

wawinereport: A5 of wine blogs out there. I’d personally like to see more depth and differentiation. Also a bit less navel gazing. >

craigsutton: Q6: Ok, gotta ask, describe “naval gazing” please :)

nwwines: RT @craigsutton: @NWwines just starting now :) #socialwine this is what I’m drinking http://twitpic.com/1fntck

wawinereport: A6 Navel gazing. I see a lot of wine blogging about wine blogging. I don’t entirely get this because there is so much content…

wawinereport: A6 to write about. Writing about writing has its place but I see a lot of people responding to the criticism of whether blogging

wawinereport: A6 in general or wine blogging in particular is relevant and interesting. To me, that discussion is not interesting…

wawinereport: A6 Blogging about wine and things related to it are interesting. Less navel gazing, more high quality content.

wawinereport: RT @Catie: @wawinereport It depends on what navel you are gazing at. <-You bring up an important point Catie. :)

craigsutton: What do you do to separate your blog from the pack? Something specific?

craigsutton: @nwwines OHHH A Lemberger :) #socialwine #lucky

wawinereport: A7: Pick something specific that you are interested in and excited about. Passionate about. Learn as much as you can and…

wawinereport: A7: Share it with others. What that specific thing is matters less than that you are passionate about it and learn about it….

craigsutton: That was Q7: by the way :)

wawinereport: A7: There will always be folks w similar interest. Find a singular passionate focus & dedicate yourself to it…

wawinereport: A7: For me, it’s Washington wine. > #wawine

craigsutton: @wawinereport Amen brother :)

craigsutton: Q8: One of the most difficult tasks in blogging is consistently writing content, do you have a road-map for delivery?

craigsutton: @nectarwine DM me or email to craig@ikonmg.com , i will credit you for the ?

wawinereport: A8 I do have a roadmap. Of course, I drive off it occasionally! I remember @garyvee saying once that you should be able to…

wawinereport: A8: generate a list of 50 topics you want to write on. My list is several times that. Part of why I enjoy it so much. >

CUVEE_CORNER: RT @craigsutton: Q8: One of the most difficult tasks in blogging is consistently writing content, do you have a road-map for delivery?

craigsutton: Q9: Do you measure your traffic by post? If so what do you hope to learn?

nectarwine: @wawinereport #socialwine dude, you are a stud! – I’m planning my week on Monday, just to figure out what’s going to post Wed

wawinereport: A9: Honestly, I pay attention to metrics somewhat but not as much as one might think (or as much as I should). I do look at…

wawinereport: A9: overall trends of visitors and how people got to my blog. The analytics you can look at is frightening by the way. But it’..

wawinereport: A9 interesting to see what someone was searching on that brought them to the blog. >

craigsutton: Q10: @ACCQueen asks, Can u provide advice for a winery trying to get noticed by top Bloggers?

wawinereport: A9 I will say that I would write this blog even if no one read it. I love doing it. Hopefully that comes through in some way. >

nectarwine: LOL Q9 @wawinereport #socialwine – for a while there ppl were getting to my site searching for naked taylor swift b/c I posted a pic of her

wawinereport: Q10 Winery’s should definitely consider sending samples to bloggers. However, know that bloggers do get samples from many…

nectarwine: RT @wawinereport: A9 I write this blog even if no one read it. I lv doing it. Hopefully that comes through #socialwine << it does, friend!

wawinereport: Q10 wineries so the question is, again, how to differentiate yourself from others. What do you do to get yourself noticed….

wawinereport: Q10 Establishing relationships where people know who you are is always more successful than cold calling. Like anything else. >

craigsutton: Q11: from @TheTroyBarrett When do you tell a winery / tasting room staff you are a blogger. Especially when you getting started.

wawinereport: Q11 When I started out I enjoyed being able to go to a tasting room and just take in the experience as a consumer. I think that.

wawinereport: Q11 does have value for writers, consumers, etc. However, after a point, it’s not practical. Writing lots of notes and asking…

wawinereport: Q11 lots of questions brings attn quick. People used to think I was from the health board. So I would say, everyone will…

wawinereport: Q11 find the right time to decide to tell people when they are coming or when they get there. >

craigsutton: Q12: @nectarwine asks What are the next steps for you to build @WAwineReport

nectarwine: Q12: @nectarwine asks What are the next steps for you to build @WAwineReport #socialwine < I ask b/c you rock and deserve more attn

wawinereport: A12 I wld like to continue to offer more in-depth writing on #wawine. Beyond that, all I can say is stay tuned. :) >

wawinereport: Thank you @nectarwine

craigsutton: Q13: Q13: @ACCQueen asks for your thoughts on the free wine controversy. Can you tell us about it b4 answering?

nectarwine: RT @wawinereport: A12 Beyond that, all I can say is stay tuned. :) > #socialwine << so coy, my friend…hmmmm

wawinereport: A13 Lot of discussion out there about bloggers receiving ‘free wine’ and thinking that people are doing this all for freebies…

wawinereport: A13 I’m not saying those folks aren’t out there. However, it should be pretty apparent if you look at what they are doing…

wawinereport: A13 whether they are serious or not. Does that answer the question @ACCqueen? >

craigsutton: Q14: Last one from me, What intrigued you about social media, and do you view it as a way to drive traffic?

wawinereport: A14 I love the ability with Social Media to talk and hear directly from people you might not be able to interact with on a…

wawinereport: A14 daily basis. I have learned so much about what is going on in WA from Social Media. I view it as about relationships. If…

wawinereport: A14 it drives traffic great. But I don’t see it as about that. More about Meeting and interacting with people. >

craigsutton: Thank you very much Mr. Sean Sullivan from @wawinereport. Be sure to check out his blog here: http://ow.ly/1yDHl

craigsutton: This was my favorite interview to date and thought your answers were all spot on!

craigsutton: I hope all of our follows had a great night! Would love your feedback

wawinereport: Thank you very much @craigsutton. Folks, do feel free to reach out to me at any point with questions, comments, even critiques! >

craigsutton: Until 6pm next week, im out #socialwine feel free to talk amongst yourselves (like I could stop you!)

simplealcohol: RT @nectarwine: Q12: @nectarwine asks What are the next steps for you to build @WAwineReport #socialwine < I ask b/c you rock and deserve more attn

wawinereport: Thanks again to @craigsutton for the invite and Qs from @ACCQueen @nectarwine @TheTroyBarrett tonight at

onerichwineguy: got into a discussion with a client and missed #socialwine. Dang it!!

wawinereport: @onerichwineguy We missed you!

onerichwineguy: @wawinereport Just reading it now! Great stuff!!

craigsutton: Tonight we’re talking “the process of building a marketing plan around a wine” discussing the Lemberger and ice wines

craigsutton: Whats in your glass?

craigsutton: Its a @kionawine 2003 Syrah for me!

craigsutton: Don’t forget, you are welcome to comment between questions using the #socialwine hashtag.

KionaWine: @craigsutton #socialwine Sipping a 2002 Estate Red Mountain Merlot. I know, it’s tough working for a winery.

craigsutton: @kionawine sounds yummy, Ok lets start with the questions!

hashtager: # Don’t forget, you are welcome to comment between questions using the #socialwine hashtag.

craigsutton: Q1: What is the first step in your decision making process when thinking about marketing your wines? Specific goals?

ThomsonVnyrds: Martini & Rossi #Prosecco Cheers to warm weather in #SF #CA this #WineWednesday

KionaWine: A1: First step is to determine who is interested in a specific wine. Ice Wine drinkers and Sangiovese drinkers are different.

KionaWine: A1: There is obviously some overlap, but often have to appeal to completely different demographics within our own product line.

KionaWine: A1: There are people who enjoy our Ice Wine on a weekly basis that don’t even consider themselves “wine drinkers.”

craigsutton: Q2: From @MargoAndTroy Do you try to develop a mktg plan for each wine or do you develop plans that are more general?

KionaWine: A2: Both. A lot of selling wine comes down to brand recognition. With over 20 wines, we have to be general.

KionaWine: A2: But also specific. We push the “brand” but also highlight specific products depending on the market

KionaWine: A2 Unlike some wineries, we make so many wines that it is sometimes hard for somebody to find a specific wine in a shop.

KionaWine: A2 which is why selling the Kiona” name is oftentimes more important than pushing one specific wine.

craigsutton: Q3: How do you research a demographic and target them for your wine sales, does your distribution network help?

KionaWine: A3 A lot of times it comes down to price. Different price tiers can greatly influence who is interested in wines.

KionaWine: A3 Sometimes you won’t get a second look because the wine is too expensive, sometimes because it is too inexpensive.

KionaWine: A3 To answer the question more succinctly, yes, the distributors help immensely. They know what their buyers want.

craigsutton: Q4: from @wawinereport how has Kiona has leveraged interest in Lemberger to build up their brand and upsell people?

KionaWine: A4 Lemberger has a small but extremely dedicated legion of followers. It’s so good and so unique it brings people in naturally

KionaWine: A4 A lot of people visit us because of one wine or another and are surprised we make so many other wines.

KionaWine: A4 Lem is a good segue wine. It’s inexpensive and competitive. People are willing to check out more expensive wine after trying.

KionaWine: A4 10-$12 is a good experimentation and impulse-buy price range. People are more willing to drop 20 after 1 positive experience.

craigsutton: #Craigmercial Please tell your friends to join us at #socialwine, the goal is to learn from each other and support makes it worthwhile!

craigsutton: Q5: From @onerichwineguy What is the above $30 mkt doing this spring? Is that mkt coming back anytime soon?

ThomsonVnyrds: Q5 midpoint. Drink the rest of the #bottle yourself or invite a #neighbor over? Join #socialwine on your own or w/a #friend!

KionaWine: A5 30$+ has been hard. Overall good for us though because people are discovering that 10-$20 wines can be as good as $50+ wines

KionaWine: A5 Most of our wines in WA are at or under $20. People who used to buy $40 wines are “downspending” to ours and are enjoying it.

ThomsonVnyrds: @craigsutton #Apologies.#Priorities.I know!Never leave a #man in the field.That’s the #rules. Even #SparklingWine #Champagne

KionaWine: A6 So many things. Grape origins, niche, how much we make. We are family owned/operated so we get to do everything ourselves

craigsutton: Q7: From @clivity What role do individual relationships play, given the size of Kiona?

KionaWine: A6 It’s not according to “in-the-bottle” quality. Our Cab/Mer is $10 in WA and I’d put it against any Cab in the US personally.

KionaWine: Q7 Huge. We are “big” in the sense that we make a lot of wine for a family winery.

KionaWine: Q7 We are small in the sense that we are just a family. We value people/buyers/customers/complainers/fans so much

KionaWine: Q7 Wine is the most social beverage in existence. We take pride in making friends wherever we go and whatever we do.

craigsutton: Q8: from @onerichwineguy what will control the sub 500 case winery glut. standards r being written to call yourself a “winery”?

clivity: @KionaWine Q7, Thanks JJ you do a good job at it.

KionaWine: Q7 Plus it’s our (MY) name on the label! Everything anybody does under the Kiona name is a reflection of our family

ThomsonVnyrds: oh snap! @onerichwineguy great Q! furthermore what will control the ever popular #lifestyle vineyard?

craigsutton: Followers of tonights chat can learn more about the “1eyed wine guy” by clicking here….Later :) http://ow.ly/1vQ6x

KionaWine: Q8 Nothing. If they can sell it more power to them. It’s a lot harder to run a winery than most people think.

KionaWine: Q8 It’s not romantic. It’s not easy. It’s hard, passionate work, from growing grapes, to making wine, to selling the darn stuff.

craigsutton: Q9: What goes into the label process, do you create them internally, work with a vendor, does the process change?

KionaWine: Q8 There will always be a market for boutique wine, but I do think we’ll start to see some form of “shakedown” soon.

KionaWine: Q9 We’re actually working on label stuff now. Being family run, this is an interesting process for us. Everybody has to be happy

onerichwineguy: @KionaWine Answer to Q8 – Amen! people think it’s all a party. It’s harder than it looks.

palatebomb: @craigsutton Good job tonight and thanks to @KionaWine as well!

KionaWine: @clivity Thank you!

ThomsonVnyrds: @KionaWine well said.How do U convey that 2 starry eyed spectators?Is it the industries job 2 self-regulate?Sorry for jumpin in!

craigsutton: @palatebomb Thanks! not done just yet.. thought the Later thing might have got ya!

KionaWine: Q9 Keeping Grandpa and Grandma happy RE labels is a sticky issue. Currently working on dessert wine and non-estate wine redo.

craigsutton: One more ? before we call it a night

KionaWine: Q9 We work with actual graphic designers. We aren’t computer whizzes or designers. They usually know better than we do!

craigsutton: Q10: What channels in both traditional and new media marketing do you use, does either outperform the other?

KionaWine: Q10 Twitter and Facebook are fantastic, but I think they fall in the realm of customer service more than sales and marketing

KionaWine: Q10 1200+ facebook and 600+ twitter followers, I we haven’t seen a huge jump in #’s, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth it.

KionaWine: Q10 Like we said before, wine is a social beverage. Facebook and Twitter are social platforms. The marriage is perfect.

KionaWine: Q10 But we have some HUGE news that I can’t really talk about yet that will make Kiona MUCH more visible in the Seattle market

craigsutton: Would like to thank JJ Williams of @KionaWine for his time tonight! This was fun and educational!

KionaWine: Q10 You can talk about how good your wine is all day long, but until somebody tries it, it doesn’t really mean anything.

craigsutton: @KionaWine aww, cant get the scoop? Hey look noone is watching *turns around*

KionaWine: @craigsutton #socialwine In time, my friend. :-)

onerichwineguy: Thanks to @craigsutton and @kionawine for tonights #socialwine. Good job JJ!

chefmagana: Thanks guys RT @craigsutton: Would like to thank JJ Williams of @KionaWine for his time tonight! This was fun and educational!

craigsutton: Remember to join us next week, with guest @wawinereport! Get Wine, get Social, lets get #socialwine!

KionaWine: @craigsutton Any time! My job to make Kiona fans happy. If anyone has any questions ever, let me know on Twitter or Facebook

craigsutton: @KionaWine Ill come pay you a visit in May

Our line of questioning this week will be on the topic of “how to blog about wine”, The discussion will cover how Washington Wine Report got started and the process Sean uses to keep it relevant and in the public eye. To share your questions for that event early, please contact @craigsutton by direct message or email before the event and include your questions.

Sean’s Bio:

Sean Sullivan is editor of a Washington wine-dedicated blog known as Washington Wine Report. The blog focuses on increasing consumer awareness of the Washington wine industry by: reviewing currently released wines; providing summaries of recent articles; writing in-depth reports on wineries, vineyards, and winemakers; and conducting monthly on-line wine tastings.

It all started after writing e-mail distributed wine reports for several years to keep his friends involved, Sean founded Washington Wine Report in 2007.A native of Massachusetts, Sean moved to Seattle in 2000 to pursue his love of mountain climbing and soon found himself immersed in Washington’s emerging wine scene.

Our line of questioning this week will be on the topic of “the process of building a marketing plan around a wine”, The discussion will cover how JJ helped Kiona market the Lemberger and ice wines they are famous for! To share your questions for that event early, please contact @craigsutton by direct message or email before the event and include your questions.

Take this opportunity to learn how a largely successful winery makes decisions on labels, demographics and distribution. Looking forward to this!

Wednesday March 31st at 6pm PT

Our line of questioning this week will be on the topic of “bridging the gap with social media between generations i.e. old world farming new world business”, a topic she knows plenty about! To share your questions for that event early, please contact @craigsutton by direct message or email before the event and include your questions.

All chosen questions will have there twitter handle associated with them when asked, and the best of the day will be interviewed by Craig for a blog post to be mentioned in the following #socialwine chat.

Jennifer R. Thomson’s Bio:

I’ve kicked and screamed my way into this industry fighting off the family business as long as could. A 4th generation Napa grape grower, as a woman I am the micro-minority. However, my great grandfather, grandfather, father and uncles were instrumental in planting some of the first Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in Los Carneros; back when global wine leaders insisted that you couldn’t grow good fruit in Napa Carneros and nobody knew what a clone was. As a result we’ve got one vine left of what we call Chardonnay “Tuti-frutti” clone and it’s downright comical watching the Old Farmers discuss just how they plan to take bud wood from one single vine to replant the entire vineyard.

Our name isn’t Mondavi or Sattui. But, the Thomson’s have farmed 80+ acres of pears, apples, prunes, and cattle since 1936 and developed the first irrigation system in Napa Carneros in the 1950s. As a result of this family tradition, I went to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and worked at one point for UC Davis developing social media, new technology marketing campaigns. I eventually bought off every single one of my professors with a bottle of wine while submitting my MBA thesis on the Economic Status of the California Wine Industry.

George (The Farmer) and Jennifer Thomson

I’ve held professional titles such as “Marketing Director”, “Creative Director” “Project Manager” and I currently construct and implement strategic communications campaigns in my day job for the City of San Francisco. In my spare time – my other full time job – is running vineyard operations and strategy for Thomson Vineyards. My Dad, George, affectionately referred to as The Farmer, stomped his feet at me last year and said, “I put grapes on grapevines, that’s all I can do.” And that’s where I come in, I do everything else. I manage relationships with winemakers and wineries, prospect new wineries to sell to, write contracts, coordinate harvest crews and logistics, buy and negotiate for equipment, meet with field reps to discuss water usage, new organic products and techniques, review P&L statements, watch the weather, sit on the end of the bin at harvest and pick leaves out to ensure we deliver clean fruit each and every time, and drive an ATV and tractor occasionally.

Social media and technology are huge components of that job, because they allow me to work remotely from Napa and the vineyard, which increases efficiencies. Hopefully one day these efficiencies will add to our bottom line. Until then, no one in this family business has a “title” except for The Farmer. He’s the guy that puts premium grapes on grapevines and has a lifetime of knowledge about farming, soil, irrigation, cropping and the genetic makeup of grapevines that not even the brightest star of a winemaker can compete with.

The wine industry is often overly glamorized by winebloggers and social media gurus eating oysters and drinking champagne all over the west coast. And while everyone in the industry runs around trying to answer “How will Millennials affect the wine industry!?” What do consumers want!?!”  “I need a social media director to tell my story!!!” Thomson Vineyards message is simple, “Beyond the slick wine label, underneath the over the top retail price, just next to the ambitious winemaker is 12 months of farming. Farmers battle weather, pests, equipment malfunctions, early morning hours, long days, and hard labor for 12 months to grow the fruit before it can even begin to be considered what we will eventually know it as – California Wine.” And THAT is the message the industry should be working towards to build relationships with consumers; ultimately leading them to be more brand loyal and eventually stabilizing the industry.

You can follow The Farmer through the vineyard on Twitter @ThomsonVnyrds and soak up punchy banter and wine industry insight from the Farmer’s Millennial Daughter on the Thomson Vineyards blog at www.thomsonvineyards.com

Wednesday March 24th at 6pm PT

Our line of questioning this week will be on the topic of wine and food pairings, a specialty of hers! Please contact @craigsutton by direct message or email either before or during the event and include your questions.

All chosen questions will have there twitter handle associated with them when asked, and the best of the day will be interviewed by Craig for a blog post to be mentioned in the following #socialwine chat.

Trina’s Bio

My passion for wine started back in 2004 when I started working at Alexandria Nicole Cellars here in Prosser. This opportunity opened my eyes into the industry of food/wine and I haven’t looked backed ever since. With the opportunity to taste and select wines for Picazo 7Seventeen’s awarding wining Northwest Wine List, I taste a large number of truly great wines from all over Washington many who source fruit from here in the Yakima Valley and a lot of them made right here in Prosser.  I work quite a bit with Chef Frank Magaña pairing wines with our nightly specials, menu entrees, tapas and winemaker dinners to help showcase the  partnership of talented wine-making and the Spanish flair of Picazo.

Being  born and raised here in the Yakima Valley  I believe Washington produces the finest wine in the world and feel very privileged to be a part of it, even in a small way!

Greg grew up working on his family’s farm in California’s Central Valley, farming row crops such as cotton and tomatoes. When his family moved to Oregon in 1982, his family switched to farming hazelnuts and planted a small vineyard in 1985.

In 1990, Greg enrolled at UC Davis and began studying agribusiness,but his interest quickly shifted to vineyard management and grape growing. He soon changed his major to fermentation science with an emphasis in enology. During his summer breaks, he returned home to Dundee, Oregon, and put his knowledge to use on the family vineyard.

In 1992, his family decided it was time to open a winery of their own. They purchased a plot of land alongside the then rural Hwy 99W in Dundee. In 1993, Duck Pond Cellars opened its doors to the public. Wanting to expand beyond Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris, the family also began planting the 480 acre Desert Wind Vineyard, located on Washington’s Wahluke Slope. When Greg graduated from UC Davis in 1994, he spent that summer and fall working under Duck Pond Cellars’ winemaker at the time. In 1995, he worked the first ever harvest at Desert Wind Vineyard and took over responsibility as head winemaker at Duck Pond Cellars. In1997, the Fries family decided it was time to start thinking about producing another brand of wine using the premium fruit from the Desert Wind Vineyard. With Greg as head winemaker, the initial releases of Desert Wind wines (1997 Ruah, 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon, 1999 Merlot and 2000 Semillon) were released to the public in 2001.

In 2004, the crush pad at Desert Wind was completed and Greg was able to bring fruit from the nearby vineyards to Prosser instead of trucking the fruit to the family’s Oregon facility for processing. As the wines continued to grow in popularity, the family decided it was time to open a tasting room and event facility in Prosser. In February 2007, Desert Wind Winery opened its doors. During construction, Greg oversaw all aspects of the project, at times acting as general contractor and general laborer. From the stucco on the walls of the winery to the wine in the bottle, nearly every aspect of Desert Wind bears Greg’s touch.

Greg considers the completion of Desert Wind the highlight of his career. He also prefers the term vintner to winemaker, as he feels it more accurately describes his position. “I enjoy the business of wine as a whole,” he explains. “I make sure I am involved in every aspect of the operation—from the planting and management of the vineyards to the operation of the buildings.”

Our guest, Stephen Hartley is a long-time wine lover and new owner of Palatebomb.com, a wine blog with the mantra “Raise your glass, not your nose!”. At an early age, his father began educating him on the finer points of wine. And growing up in the Tri-Cities, there was quite a bit of wine around to savor.  “I’ve always enjoyed trying various wines to experience the combination of different flavors that each offers,” he states. “Each bottle brings new sensations to the palate. That’s what I love about wine.”

Living in the heart of Washington’s wine country, Stephen finds our regional wine culture a familiar and fun atmosphere. While not afraid to journey across the sea (or the wine isle of the local supermarket) for tastes from places like France and Argentina, he does admit to having a soft spot for Washington wines, commenting that his palate finds that our local wines are strong competitors against the traditional national  leader, California.

When he isn’t out and about savoring the fruits of the local wineries, Stephen can be found around the Tri-Cities producing events as Fenix Sound & Vision, a local DJ company.

What is #socialwine you ask?