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RICHLAND, Wash. – This week, about 300 bloggers and winemakers are set to descend on Walla Walla in Eastern Washington, for a sold-out conference. Organizers say it’s the first wine conference for bloggers held outside of California. Correspondent Anna King reports.
Meet J.J. Williams. His family owns a winery on a dusty Eastern Washington hill called Red Mountain. At 23 years old, he’s third gen working full-time in the business. And he’s in charge of dealing with the bloggers. J.J. says wine bloggers can’t be ignored. They are continuing to grow in numbers and popularity. That’s forcing wineries to get savvy and give them information, tours and samples. It’s J.J.’s job to sort out which blogs are legit. He says it’s very different than sending wine to an established wine critic.
J.J. Williams: “It’s difficult because you don’t know who you are sending wine to. You don’t know what their palate is. You don’t know what the conditions are they are reviewing the wine under. If they are going to pair it with food — or not pair it with food — or pair it incorrectly with food. Really the nature of blogging is that anyone can have a voice and everyone has an opinion.â€
J.J. says all that can get expensive. It’s also hard to track sales stimulated by blogs. But he says word of mouth already sells a lot of wine — and blogging is just another way that happens. J.J. even has a video blog himself called “The One-Eyed Wine Guy.â€
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The Northwest News Network is a collaboration of public radio stations in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. N3's reporters bring a regional perspective to daily news and produce features that go beyond the headlines.
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