My Response To The Panel of Professional Print Writers at the Wine Bloggers Conference
Jul 15, 2014, Updated Nov 21, 2023
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Is it okay to describe a wine as “perfect”? I think so. And many up and coming wine writers think so to.
I was particularly eager to hear what the “pros” had to say on day two of the 7th Annual Wine Bloggers Conference, in a session titled: Panel of Professional Print Wine Writers. The professionals on the panel included writers James Conaway, Mike Dunne, and Steve Heimoff.
(Photo courtesy of George Rose Photography. Used with permission.)
But five minutes into the Q&A portion of the panel I started to feel discouraged.
First of all, I couldn’t help but notice the complete lack of diversity when assessing the panel members. Though the panel was moderated by an awesome woman, the actual panel consisted of just three older, white, men who are traditional print journalists…. Okay. But, they were speaking to an audience of wine bloggers. Many of whom were women. Many were younger. And several of whom were not Caucasian.
They discussed how they got into wine writing, how much print writers make these days, and began to give advice in a Q&A format.
And that is where they started to frustrate me. It quickly became apparent to me that they were missing the boat on addressing this particular audience – an audience of wine bloggers. Some bloggers follow traditional journalism standards, but many don’t. Additionally they demonstrated a fundamental lack of understanding of the way many blogs are successful.
Using Media Formats
When asked about the use (or overuse) of photos and imagery in a blog post, they fumbled to a response, missing entirely the grasp on the power of imagery in online media. “Art Directors are in charge of photos,” they claimed, and aren’t all that important anyways.
Um, no. I’m pretty sure this famous food blogger would argue otherwise about the importance of imagery to tell a story.
It wasn’t until they collectively expressed their pet peeves in wine blogging –the “to do” and “not to do” in wine writing advice– that I stared to feel exasperated. For instance, the using terms like “perfect” to describe a wine (as in “perfect steak wine”) was universally disapproved of and joked about as if it were some kind of insider “pro” thing to turn their nose on people who use those terms.
Because, of course there’s one, and only one way to properly write about wine. And get paid for it.
The Truth – Wine Is Partly Subjective
I can’t begin to tell you how many people I encounter (friends, family, readers, folks in classes I teach, even strangers!) who are indeed looking for a “perfect” [fill in the blank] wine.
No, they’re not looking for a wine that exhibits dense loamy earth, with an essence of eucalyptus, cassis, mint, and tobacco leaf, aged 18 months in new French oak barrels with chewy tannins.
They want an inexpensive and refreshing wine appropriate to serve at their backyard BBQ or summer picnic, or a special wine good enough to bring to dinner with their future in-laws. And sometimes, it would be helpful if the wine was indeed “delicious” or “yummy.”
Many don’t want to search too far and wide for this “perfect” wine, nor be treated like an idiot in a stuffy wine store for not knowing exactly what they like or want. They may not care about points, but they also don’t want to spend too much on a wine.
Sure, sometimes they will indeed splurge on a $20+ bottle of wine. But for the most part, many people just want something that tastes good, doesn’t cost a lot, something they don’t really have to think about, and can confidently serve to friends without stressing.
But, according to the “professionals” at the conference, we should refrain from that style of writing, for it isn’t true journalism.
Strive To Be Helpful
I just want those panelists to know that not all of us who blog are out to be journalists. Some of us just simply wish to be helpful to real people who buy real wine and have real needs (like finding a $10 wine to bring to a tailgating party). Yes, there are people out there who are looking for that “perfect” wine!
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I freelance for a variety of publications, both print and online. Some wine related, some not. I have a different tone depending on my particular audience and publication I’m writing for. I LOVE it when I have an editor. But for my blog, I don’t have one (well, unless you count my husband who often proofreads my work. He does love to call me out on my excessive use of exclamation points!! But normally he’s just as exhausted as I am to catch my improper comma placements).
My Point of View
For my blog, I think it’s absolutely okay (and often encouraged) to describe a wine as the “perfect” poolside sipper, porch pounder, party wine, gardening wine, or post-marathon wine. And as a consumer (because yes, I also buy a lot of wine with my own cash money), I actually appreciate the terms “delicious”, “refreshing”, and sometimes even “yummy”.
I get where you’re coming from James, Mike, and Steve. I do. You’re coming from an old-school print journalism standard, and I do respect that. But not everyone strives to be that kind of writer.
Reading the Room – The Future of People First Content
I think it may have been more helpful, to the audience at a wine BLOGGERS conference, to have had a few different perspectives and voices on that panel. Perhaps a panelist who understood the word of blogs and blogging, like a professional blogger (though not necessarily “wine” blogger). I just think multiple perspectives, including the three panelists, would have led to a richer discussion.
Jjust for comparison, my favorite food blogger excessively uses the term “you guys” to refer to her readers, and “yum”, “best ever”, even “OMG”, to describe her food. And she’s very popular. And very successful. In fact, she made over $31,000 in one month alone. So, there’s that.
So, while I didn’t speak up during the panel discussion (and instead sat there in silence and frustration without standing up and expressing my true feelings), I do get paid to write about wine — both in print, and online, and I feel very blessed to have a career doing something I LOVE doing.
I also write my own blog. And I just want anyone in that room who may have been discouraged by that panel to know that, yes, you can be yourself, and use slang terms, and descriptors like “perfect” and “delicious” in your BLOG posts.
Because at the end of the day, it’s a blog. And it’s YOUR blog. You are the editor and you get to make those decisions. And when you do get the (sometimes awesome) experience of working with an editor for a print or online publication, she or he will be the one to determine if those terms get edited out of the article in order to fit that publication’s specific audience.
Write For Your Audience
But if it works for YOUR audience, for your blog, then, by all means, go with it!
Looking for the perfect wine for that moment when you discover your kids just filled the pool with mud and decided to start mud wrestling in it? I was.
I simply believe the organizers missed an opportunity to add diversity to the panel. Not just diversity of gender, and social and economic background. But also diversity of writing styles and examples of what can be successful in this day and age.
And I’m now off to go find the perfect wine to drink with the turkey burgers I’m grilling up for dinner tonight.
Is there such thing as the “perfect burger wine”?
About Vindulge
Mary (a certified sommelier and recipe developer) and Sean (backyard pitmaster) are co-authors of the critically acclaimed cookbook, Fire + Wine, and have been creating content for the IACP nominated website Vindulge since 2009. They live in Oregon on a farm just outside Portland.
Hi Mary,
I appreciate your comments. Regarding diversity, we mostly take the top panelists available to us without regard to gender, race, or sexuality unless a panel is specifically about that – like “women winemakers”. We can do a better job to be proactive.
Regarding this panel, I agree it was probably a turnoff to have writers seemingly put down bloggers. However, I think the point of the panel was exactly what it delivered – the point of view of the professional print wine writer. We have had dozens of panels over the years representing the views of bloggers and this was designed to be different. It would indeed be interesting to have a “print writing versus blogging” panel next year; I’ll add that to our already-created list of possibilities.
Allan
Thanks for taking the time to respond Allan! I appreciate it. I’ve been to five of the seven conferences, so you know I’m a fan of WBC and wouldn’t continue going if I didn’t find the content useful. You guys have had many other very successful print writers speak in past conferences (Lettie Teague, Linda Murphy, Jancis Robinson, Katherine Cole, and Andrea Robinson just to name the first few that popped in my head). I just noticed a general lack of diversity in this particular panel.
Allen Wright, “Regarding diversity, we mostly take the top panelists available to us without regard to gender, race, or sexuality unless a panel is specifically about that – like “women winemakers”.
Wow. Really? WBC Organizers, this thinking is like the Catholic Church only ordaining men while fully aware that women and non-whites financially and congregationally are the largest supporters of the Church.
Take a hard look at the facts: women are the largest consumers of wine in the USA https://bit.ly/WqOekF Sales increases are in the (non-white) global market. https://bit.ly/1pvyy8b
If WBC is to remain relevant, modern and helpful to wine writers/bloggers it will need to rethink this subject. I have a feeling WBC is in danger of other conferences eclipsing it.
Well said. I agree that the wbc generally seems to miss opportunities to diversify on the panels, and that’s coming from a frequent wbc panelist! Not only are there many ways to skin the professional writing cat (even about a topic treated as conservatively as wine), but we generally need to stop pretending that traditional wine writing gigs won’t be going the way of the dinosaur soon.
Exactly Joe! Thanks for chiming in. And not all print publications target the same people and write in the same tone.
Yep. I am not dissing WBC here, because there’s a lot of value in it especially for those new to the wine scene. But I’d LOVE to be on a panel with members that have different ethnic backgrounds, for example, and can offer perspectives that will therefore be different than mine. Now, I’m not saying all white dudes have the same background and perspectives – clearly we don’t – but am saying that those other perspectives are needed and would differ from mine in ways I probably cannot predict, and that can make for enlightening discussions, etc.
Let’s hope for something like that next year!!
I didn’t make the conference, so appreciate hearing about the conversation there! It does sound odd that they wouldn’t have a blogger on the panel you describe. I also agree that “perfect” is an appropriate adjective for many wines, in the right context.
Thanks for your comment David. To be fair to the organizers it was called Panel of Professional “Print Wine Writers”, so a blogger may not have been an appropriate choice. I just wish there were more perspectives offered. Even in print wine writing, there’s no one way that’s the “correct” way. But that’s how it came across.
Yup. I’m glad I skipped this session to chill in my room, get caught up on my emails/Facebook/other forms of social media and what not before the live blogging session. I would have been biting my tongue and drawing blood on it during that session had I stuck around.
Ha! Probably a good thing you skipped it then?! 😉
Go get ’em. I love your ability to speak honestly, with humor (can I put a comma there?), about what so many were feeling.
Couldn’t wait until the morning to read. 😉
Awe, thanks 🙂
Mary, brilliant … while I love writing (and do get paid by several sites to do it), my style is folksy and different. I write about my experience with wine, but I also have a day job that gives me the ability to buy, taste and experience wines (many times on my own dime…) It’s authentic me and I’m lucky enough to have a great and engaged readership. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
Exactly Melanie! And I love you for that (and so many more reasons of course). You are the real Melanie in your writing and that’s why people come back for more. It’s something they don’t get from magazines whose contributors change frequently… and that’s why it’s perfect… for you!
Maybe we can get Pinch of Yum to lead a session at WBC15? Keynote?
Jameson, that would be my dream! I’ll definitely be putting that recommendation in my post-conference survey.
Mary, I think if I was there I would have felt the same way you did. As much as they were print the panel should have consisted of bloggers as well to be a more well rounded “writers.” Since I was not there and can only get an idea from your rant, it sounds like they might just be a little threatened with bloggers.
The comment about photographs was like a hands off, I write about it and let someone else pick the pictures…I couldn’t tell you how many times in my marketing career that the wrong picture was printed with an article.
Wish I was there so I could comment more on the subject.
Debbie, thanks so much for chiming in! You were definitely missed this year. And I really really hope to see you next year in your own backyard 🙂
I don’t believe that all “wine journalists” can be painted with the same brush. I certainly don’t advocate recipe wine analysis and description, just as I am against recipe winemaking. It sounds like you struck a bad bunch (excuse pun) and while it would have been advisable to have had bloggers running the session, remember that most of these so called “professionals” started out in other careers/avenues. I wouldn’t take their criticism to heart!
Thanks for your comment Paul! And I did respect the three panelists and think their feedback was important. I just wish there had been more overall diversity (both in the panel members and the advice given). Cheers
Way to go go Mary. You beat me to the rant! Could not agree more.
And in complete disregard for the words we were told to NEVER use–I like to say this post was AWESOME, DELIGHTFUL, and PERFECT!
Thanks Marcy! I’d still love to hear your rant on the subject. You brought up totally different things than I did. Cheers!