Three Years of Wine Blogging

Sometime late last month, this blog turned a whopping three years old. Still quite a baby in the wine blogosphere, I nevertheless take some measure of pride in (somewhat) consistently posting blog articles for three years. While the focus has strayed a bit and been perhaps too review-oriented, the very fact that I have a wine blog has opened so many doors and literally allowed me to pursue the life of my dreams. If I had not started a blog, I would not be a winemaker. I would not have experienced Navarra or Bordeaux, met some great friends, and tasted some incredible wines.

I went back and forth between marking the occasion or ignoring it until a bigger anniversary came up, but ultimately decided to post a blog with some advice I'd give the Beau who started this blog all those short years ago. Please chime in with comments below, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts!

1. Plan posts in advance, just a little. You'll soon get flooded with press releases, sample offers, tastings, and more. It helps to plan out a posting schedule, even in rough draft form, so that you can keep everything straight.

2. Write for yourself and your audience. Remember that this is your blog, but also that other people will read this blog and (hopefully) learn something! As an outgrowth of your passion for wine, it's vital that you keep your own distinct voice in each post, yet also pay heed to the knowledge levels of your readers.

3. Be picky with which samples you accept. Yes, it's tempting to accept everything, especially when so many notable bloggers either solicit or accept every bottle sent to them, but there is also some value in working with the (few) good PR firms to feature bottles you're actually interested in. Don't be afraid to say no!

4. Don't for a moment sell yourself short, especially on social media. Look around at all the bloggers proclaiming themselves experts, when hardly any of us are truly experts. Recognize you're not an expert, but that you do have a lot of knowledge to share with your fellow wine lovers.

5. Never stop reaching out to people you admire, respect, and want to know better. Social media is about being social, about creating relationships, and that's something that can make your journey in wine so much more rewarding.

6 Pictures can often tell a better story than your blabbering on about a wine. Pay attention to the pictures you're taking and what they can say, given the right context.

7. Remember how important it is to be honest with yourself and with your readers. Never be afraid to voice your opinions on your blog, but be sure that what you express is factually correct and valid.

8. Don't rate wines. Either recommend them and explain why, or don't recommend them and explain why. Reducing a wine to a number or letter-grade is taking the easy route. Encourage your readers to avoid checking scores too.

9. Be concise. Use six words instead of 16, if you can make the same point.

10. Write first, do something else, then come back and edit. Don't be in a hurry to rush out any posts just "because". Your readers will know, trust me.

My final advice to the Beau of the past would be this: Whatever you do, have fun, and if you need to take a break from blogging, do so!

Here's to three more years!

Beau Carufel

Happy New Year!

As 2011 draws to a close, the inexorable march of time once again comes to the forefront of our consciousness. Since the beginning of the week, the wine blogosphere has been awash with posts highlighting "Top 10" lists, year-end wrap ups, and Champagne-education posts. Forgive me, but this won't be one of those.

I choose to look forward in 2012, to a job here in Oregon managing a tasting room, new wines on my radar, and a shift in the tone and direction of my wine blog. I also am setting some goals, both personal and professional, that I will endeavor to accomplish next year. Looking forward, I feel excited and invigorated about the prospects for next year and chronicling it will be very satisfying.

Since the internet wine scene is evolving quickly, so must wine bloggers. As more consumers start to read wine blogs and actively seek out blogs for information, what they read becomes far more important than whom they read. Therefore, the weight of integrity and transparency is upon all of us who call ourselves wine bloggers. Associated with those responsibilities is the need for better writing, and at the very least the use of spelling and grammar checks by most of us. You know who you are.

Part of the change in tone of my wine blog will seem strange to longtime readers, but I hope new readers will find it refreshing, and longtime readers will enjoy what I have to say. Since a large part of my posts are wine reviews, I won't change that focus very much. However, the majority of my wine reviews will not include grades anymore. If I like a wine, I'll recommend it and tell you why I like the wine. On the other hand, if I don't like a wine, I'll be precise as to why I don't like it and obviously will not recommend buying that bottle. In other words, I'll be a stricter critic of the wines I review, while striving to maintain at least a polite tone. What remains to be seen is how the marketing and public relations professionals adapt to that, if they do at all.

The shift in direction of my blog is a goal I've wanted to bring to fruition for a while, to shift away from almost 100% wine review posts to more focus on living in wine country, the people I meet, and finally, living the wine lifestyle. No, I am not writing a book on that, because there are certainly enough crappy books on wine out there already. The shift I'm talking about will be confined solely to my blog posts, and I hope you enjoy them as much as you enjoy my wine reviews.

Beau's Barrel Room wouldn't have survived in 2011 without you, my readers. I want to thank you all so much for taking the time to read and comment on my blog, whether we agree or disagree, I value your thoughts so much. With each post I try to become a better writer, a more engaging host, and a more adept communicator in the hopes that you will keep reading and enjoying my words.

To many of you, I suspect we'll get to share a bottle at some point this year, which only serves to heighten my anticipation for 2012. To others, I hope we finally meet in real life for the first time, because I would love to shake your hand and learn more about your own personal wine journey. To everyone, I offer my humblest Thank You for being a part of my life in wine.

Beau Carufel

(Wine) Writer's Block and A Possible Cure

Lately I seem to have developed a case of writer's block. Why, I do not know. My wine consumption has stopped for the past few weeks due to a gastrointestinal illness, so that means nothing gets tasted and shared with you. Of course there are other topics to write about, especially in the wine world. The catch is whether I want to write about them.

Some might think that I should want to write about these subjects, to an extent you are correct. However, I strive to be original in my writing, whether it's my take on a wine or my opinions on wine marketing. Therefore, and I feel this is or should be true of all writers, I ask myself what can I add to the the discussion on a particular topic. If I think all the voices have already summed up what needs to be said, why rehash what someone else posted? I don't see that as adding value for my readers or quality content to my blog.

Writing about wine, be it a blog or real life publication takes a certain amount of passion and devotion. Adhering to a regular posting schedule is a wonderful way to get noticed and (hopefully) gain loyal followers/readers. Unfortunately, over the past few weeks I've felt a distinct cooling of the passion I have for wine and wine writing. Mostly attributable to the illness and diet I've been on, forbidding alcohol, spicy foods, coffee, etc. In other words, forbidding all the fun stuff. My point is that I've felt a distinct lack of joie de vire because I cannot enjoy wine right now.

As I thought about what I wanted to write tonight, I also asked myself if I truly enjoy wine these days or if I have started to analytically examine every glass I have. It's important to remind ourselves to put the pen and paper or iPad away for a moment and just sip the juice in the glass. Yes, most or all of the good wine writers are able to do this, of that I have no doubt. Yet for a relative novice like myself, getting caught up in exploring a wine sometimes becomes too much of an obsession. Sure I derive immense enjoyment from excitedly teasing out a subtle nuance, assigning it context, and explaining it to my readers. What I forget to do is sniff, take a sip, close my eyes and just enjoy the contact between wine and palate. I've gotten away from letting the wine wash over me, sharing with me whatever it wants. Yes, I am humanizing my wine and for good reason, I feel as if my life is intertwined with wine. From literally growing up in the business as the son of a wholesaler/broker/distributor here in San Diego to discovering (still discovering) my passion, wine is a part of who I am.

There's more to life than tasting notes and assigning grades. Maybe that is a simplistic realization for you, nothing wrong with that sentiment. For me, it's a reminder of something I already know yet still forget from time to time. Putting it here helps me center myself, so to speak. In the next month or so I have some exciting articles planned. There's an awesome Chilean wine tasting next week that I'll be hosting at my place, a review of some superb wines from Ceja Vineyards, a book review, and right around Easter, a dessert wine tasting. It's my hope those will fan the flames of my passion for writing once more. Maybe this blog was more for me than anything, a way to sort out my thoughts. Thanks for reading!

Beau Carufel