Word of mouth is a powerful thing. When it comes to helping other people learn about great wines, it may be the most powerful thing.

We love telling people about our amazing little town. Walla Walla is a place of natural beauty, rich culture, agricultural history and, of course, world-class wine and food. Earlier this month, the great folks at Visit Walla Walla teamed up with the Walla Walla Wine Alliance and a number of local wineries and chefs to host the 2018 Annual Wine Bloggers Conference at the Marcus Whitman Hotel here in Walla Walla. The conference, organized by Zephyr Conferences, changes venues each year to offer their attendees an opportunity to visit great wine destinations around the world; it was unique opportunity to have it here in Walla Walla in 2018. We were thrilled to participate alongside so many other great local and international wineries as we poured wines for the attendees, shared our stories and even had the chance to host some great folks for a casual lunch in our historic downtown tasting room.

As we mixed and mingled with these wine writers and influencers, it was easy to see why this event was so successful – it’s definitely the people. It’s clear that wine people come from all types of backgrounds and all types of personalities. Some do this professionally, while others are more inclined to look at writing about wine as a creative outlet that, while certainly more than a hobby, is not a professional endeavor.

Some attendees were into writing about specific grape varieties, others into how wine and food interact, others yet into the personal stories behind the wines and there was even a wine blogger that was interested in writing specifically about dog-friendly wineries. Even though everyone came to this event with their own perspective on what wine means to them, it was clear that they all cared deeply about the topic and, more importantly, about sharing their passion for wine with others.

We’re encouraged that the future of the wine industry might be influenced by the enthusiasm, passion and knowledge that we saw in the people attending the Wine Bloggers Conference. We’re obviously passionate about wine and, hopefully, it’s equally obvious that we’re passionate about sharing our enthusiasm with others. The more open and diverse the wine community is, the more comfortable it will be for new people to approach wine and, hopefully, develop an interest and passion for wine themselves. As a first-generation, independant winery, we’re rooting for this.

Sitting inside the wine industry, one thing is clear to us… if small, family-owned wineries are going thrive and succeed in a rapidly-consolidating industry dominated by huge companies, we’ll need consumers that care enough to seek out wineries like ours. Consumers that care about knowing the people who made their wines and the real-life stories behind them. We simply can’t compete with the marketing and PR budgets of the large wineries so it means so much to us when people help spread the word. Having the Wine Bloggers here in Walla Walla was not only a great opportunity for us to help tell the world about how great Walla Walla is but it was also a great opportunity to help tell the stories of the many family-owned and operated wineries here.

With all that context, we would like to thank the Wine Bloggers for coming to Walla Walla and for the work you’re all doing to help spread your enthusiasm.

We would also like to specifically thank Caitlin of Sips N Tips for this great article on her visit with us.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

Cheers,

Tim and Jen Armstrong