Wine Bloggers Conference, Here I Come!

Tomorrow morning, bright and early, I leave for Portland. Destination: DoubleTree Hotel for the 2012 Wine Bloggers Conference. I’m hoping to arrive just before 10 am, so I’m sure I won’t miss the bus that will be whisking me away to the gorgeous Youngberg Hill Vineyards and Inn for a tasting, tour and luncheon. We’ll be meeting with owner Wayne Bailey for the tour and tasting, while Willamette Valley’s well-known chef,  Chef Christoper Czarnecki, owner of the famous Joel Palmer House restaurant located in Dayton, Oregon, will be using his culinary ingenuity to make lunch for a group of us wine bloggers.

After the bus brings us back to the hotel, I’ll have just enough time to get ready for the welcome reception, hosted by the Oregon Wine Board. This will be my chance to meet wine bloggers from around the world while sampling some of Oregon’s incredible wines.

When the welcome reception winds down, I’ll be meeting a representative from Watershed Communications, a PR agency that works with artisan wineries and organizes the famed Indie Wine Festival, where I’ll be whisked away once again – this time to a small wine bar located inside the Portland Wine Storage. Watershed is opening up the vaults of their library wines, and with some well-known winery owners and winemakers, we’ll be sipping what I’m sure will be some very special and fine Oregon wine.

As if the latter is not right up my alley, and believe me, it is, I’ll have three more days to follow of wine tasting, wine blogging and more wine tasting. I’m even going to end the conference with a visit to R. Stuart & Wine Co. where I’ll have the opportunity to make a wine of my own by blending different varietals, aptly named, the Bloggers Blend.

Along the way, I’ll be using Twitter to share where I am, what I’m eating, who I’m with and what I’m drinking – it’s what we wine bloggers do best. Follow me on Twitter at @WineJulia or click here. There will be over 400 wine bloggers all sharing their experiences – to keep up with what’s going on at this years Wine Bloggers Conference, log on to Twitter and search for the hashtag #WBC12. I’ve been keeping up with the wine bloggers that have already arrived, and from what I’ve seen, I am going to have one heck of a good time.