Barbera 2010: Damn it feels Good To Be a Blogger

There was a point last week when i realized how much things had changed in the wine writing world. The Barbera 7 had made the national paper in Italy, people were talking in Italy and America before the event had even concluded.

i was on the trip as the representative of saignee, but in reality i am saignee. i have no one to answer to, and the views here are completely my own. i write for no other publications, and my blog has no income at all because i refuse advertisements. This was my first press junket, which was paid for but i received nothing. This was the same for the other bloggers who attended, a diverse and fun bunch who spend time hunched over keyboards at six in the morning furiously typing posts in Italian hotel rooms because we love wine. That’s it.

No one edited our posts, and our reactions to the wines were automatic. When we didn’t like something, we wrote about it. When we liked something, we wrote about it. It was simple, direct, and perhaps a little unnerving for some. The day after tasting at La Cassaccia there were several posts praising the wines and the people who made them. When we tasted the vanity appelation wines of Nizza, the reaction was immediate. Sure it has been talked about to death, this automatic criticism, and perhaps it needs more thought, but the truth is with print journalism the chances of in depth reaction to either subject is close to zero.

There was some criticism to be sure. Some serious types thought we weren’t taking it seriously because we were excited and talking to much, making to much noise, and not having poker faces when stuck in the Sargasso Sea of overoaked barbera. Sure we didn’t look serious, but have you ever sat around six people who blog about wine? There was more conversation, history, tasting note trading, joy, disgust, and thoughtfulness than you imagine. The second i have to act like i’m seriously considering every bad wine that is put in front of me, or the second i have to stop myself from drinking out of a novelty sized wineglass for a photo-op (i got in trouble for this, but you’ll agree, it was worth it), i’ll try to get paid for it. Until then, i’ll continue to write about wines that excite me (mostly at great expense to me, except in this case), whether i liked them or not.

So would i do it again? Yes. Will someone invite me again? Probably not.

—Saignée