Joy's JOY of Wine: First Blog-a-versary

This week marks the first blog-a-versary for Joy’s JOY of Wine. It’s been a year that has passed very quickly, but I’ve enjoyed it immensely!

I began this blog as a way to share my passion for wine. Having owned a winery for over ten years, and worked in the industry for a few more, I wanted to find a way to share some of what I’ve learned about wine with other like-minded enthusiasts.

But wine blogging is not for the faint-of-heart! What began as a novel idea in the early years of this century has grown tremendously. In 2009, less than 800 wine blogs were said to exist and almost 600 of those were written in English. Today, you can find wine blogs being written across the globe, in French, Italian, Spanish, Catalan, Japanese, German, Indonesian, a plethora of languages – all sharing information and a love of wine.

Wine blogging has become so popular; it has its own awards. The Wine Blog Awards http://wineblogawards.org are awarded each year in various categories for excellence in wine blogging.

There is also a wine bloggers conference held each year. Since 2008, the Wine Bloggers’ Conference http://winebloggersconference.org has been held in several US cities. This year it will be held in Penticton, BC from June 6^th through the 8th.

Both events were created with the assistance of long-time wine blogger Tom Wark who writes Fermentation, The Daily Wine Blog http://fermentationwineblog.com; one I “grew up” reading.

Wine blogs are written throughout the world by industry publications, wine professionals, wineries, wine shops, and consumers.

But while there are numerous wine blogs, they are not all the same. Different genres offer different insights and observations into the world of wine. One of the most influential of all wine blogs is Vinography http://www.vinography.com where Adler Yarrow shares his thoughts and explorations into the world of wine.

According to research compiled by Liz Thach for the 5th International Academy of Wine Business Research Conference in 2010, at least a third of the wine blogs out there are written solely to review wines. One of the best is Ken’s Wine Guide http://kenswineguide.com written by Ken Hoggins.

Other wine blogs may be more industry-related, dealing with wine and wine business such as Wine Business Monthly http://www.winebusiness.com, and The Gray Report http://blog.wblakegray.com written by W. Blake Gray and winner of the 2012 Best Industry blog.

A popular blogging twosome deals with food and wine. This type of blog can offer wine and food pairing suggestions, recipes on how to prepare certain wine-friendly foods, and even propose restaurants that offer a particular type of food and wines that will go well with it. Most are local/regionally orientated. Check out Food & Wine magazine for suggestions http://www.foodandwine.com/blogs.

Wine blogs may also be about certain regions or a specific country. Wine Terriors www.wineterroirs.com written by French photographer, Bertrand Celce takes a look at the French wine regions. On the Wine Trail in Italy http://acevola.blogspot.com by Alphoso Cevola is another great one.

Wine blogs can also be written by wineries as a way to tell about the wines they have available, to offer tasting notes, and keep readers up-to-date on events happening at that specific winery. The 2012 Wine Blog winner in this category was Jordan Winery, http://blog.jordanwinery.com.

Or, by the winemakers themselves who describe their vineyard practices, winemaking process, and give details on their latest releases. John M. Kelly does a wonderful job with Notes from the Winemaker http://www.winemakernotesblog.com

And then there are the wine blogs that attempt to inform and educate readers about wine, its culture, and its history. The most popular in this category is Dr Vino http://www.drvino.com, written by Tyler Colman. (This is the niche that I have happily written Joys JOY of Wine for.)

So many people have shared comments with me on Facebook and LinkedIn. That has helped me to keep adjusting and researching what you’ve said you’d like to know more about.

So as I begin this second year blogging about wine, its culture and educational aspects, I’d like to say Thank You for reading, joining, following, and liking Joy’s JOY of Wine. You can keep up with my latest on