William Pollard Jr | aka: Wild 4 Washington Wine

The Washington State Wine Awards (formerly known as Washington Wine Restaurant Awards), established in 2002, recognizes industry leaders that exhibit strong support of Washington wines and high professional standards in wine service. After 10 years of honoring restaurants, this year’s ceremony will shine a spotlight on nominees and winners from the retail, tourism, distributor and wholesaler sectors, as well. An estimated 500 attendees will include wine buyers, sommeliers and influential tourism players, among others. In addition to the short awards ceremony, attendees will have the opportunity to engage with several dozen Washington State wineries and taste their wines. The Washington State Restaurant , Retailer and Tourism Champions of the Year are the most prestigious awards, while the Washington State Wine Grand Award seeks to commend those individuals and organizations that designate menu and wine list space for Washington win...

Wineries + Lodging + Activities + Food + Events + Transportation + Education = Success. This month I attended the second Wine Tourism Conference in Santa Rosa, California, at the Flamingo Resort and Spa . This was my first time attending this conference and my first time visiting Sonoma Wine Country. Sigh, the weather was gorgeous. Next year, the third  Wine Tourism Conference will be held in beautiful Portland, Oregon on November 14-15, 2013. What is the Wine Tourism Conference? The main emphasis of the Wine Tourism Conference is about improving wine tourism traffic, making lasting connections with customers, educating consumers and creating a culture of wine.  With 236 people in attendance this year, the target audience for this conference included: wineries, wine and tourism promotion agencies and chambers of commerce, tour operators, travel agencies, transportation companies, event planners, hotels, and restaurants, public relations professionals and o...