Sitting in front of the computer preparing to sum up my experience at the European Wine Blogger Conference, I literally feel speechless. Are there words for my emotions, my feeling of warmth and excitement for what’s occurred, along with a touch of sadness and depression I’ve been feeling now that the conference is over? It’s like using an instant camera with the intention of capturing the breadth and beauty of the Grand Canyon. Unless you were there, feeling the hot canyon winds come across the 1,218,375 acres that dip down an average of 4,000 feet deep; smell the rich evergreen and sandalwood aromas in the air; or touch the blazing hot iron soils which kick up fine, red dust under your feet, pictures nor words can never fully describe your experience.

On one hand, I feel a warmth in my heart that has lasted for four days, and I expect it will last well into the future. To see 40+ people from all over the world come together and bond in literally, moments flat, was something we wish would happen among nations everyday. From Friday to Sunday, voices were always raised, bubbling with curiosity and excitement; because how often do you get to speak with someone who blogs in another language as to their perceptions, desires, hopes and fears about wine blogging? For me, not often enough. Instead, I am typically caught in a whirlpool of voices from my own culture, an incestuous conversation that circles around the same view point over and over again. But to have so many different ideas as to what wine blogging is, what we need to do to better our profession, how we can solve our …

So it appears that there is considerable support for the idea of having a European wine blogger conference. Those that are following along with last week’s post on the proposed conference will notice that we have a good diverse group. One thing to point out though, is that this is a work in progress and an attempt to do something with as much group involvement and participation as possible. Therefore, I’m going to start by saying that all offers to help out will be accepted. But first, we need to answer some preliminary questions before we go any further.

1) When do we want this? Gerry Dawes has mentioned that our proposed dates are not the best for various reasons. Others seem to agree. So I have this question: what works for you? Please vote in the poll listed below. If you have a better answer, feel free to suggest it in the comments below.
We do feel that it needs to be around this time of year, but we are open to all suggestions. Just know that we would like to set the date in stone, before we get to far into February.