Amazing bloggers, new faces and old...

 Last weekend I was in Lisbon, Portugal for the 2nd Annual European Wine Bloggers Conference, better known as the EWBC.  Many of you will remember I went to the first EWBC last year in Logroño, Spain, well, I decided I'd better check out round two!  Especially since it was in Lisbon, a place I've always wanted to visit.  Well, I got to see some of Lisbon, but there's much, much more to see, mostly I met loads of interesting people, and got the chance to reconnect with the friends I made last year.  

The event more than doubled in size this year thanks to the heroic efforts of our hosts Gabriella and Ryan Opaz and Robert McIntosh.  120 plus bloggers from all over the US and Europe gathered in Lisbon at the hotel VIP Grand Lisboa for 3 days of fun, oh and some serious learning, of course!  A huge thank you goes out to our many sponsors who included: Vini Portugal, The Douro Boys, Catalunya DO, Vinhos do Alentejo, Amorim, L'and Vineyards and many others!!  They helped make the conference a wonderful success.  

But the best part of the conference is meeting the people  behind the blogs!  For those of us who participated last year it was like a high school reunion, meeting up with what seemed like old friends.  We formed a bond over those three days last year, and it was such fun to catch up with everyone a year later!  Then of course, there were loads of new faces.  A fair number of Brits showed up from both the food and the wine blogging world.  It was interesting to have some wine neo-phytes join in and give their perspectives on the whole thing. 

I figured the best thing I could do for my readers is introduce you to some of my favorite people from the conference and their blogs and/or websites.  These are people I enjoyed meeting, discovering their blogs and their passions.  I'm sure I forgot someone, so if you're curious you can see the entire list of participants here.

Oscar Quevedo: www.quevedoportwine.com  - Oscar was referred to as Port wine's pin-up boy, and you can see why.  His personnality is as engaging as his smile, there's nothing not to like here.  He is a dedicated blogger, and if you enjoy my blog, I think you'll like his as well.

The Adegga Boys www.adegga.com  - André Ribeirinho, Emidio Santos and André Cid are the guys behind Adegga.com and the ones responsible for keeping us all online throughout the conference.  When the hotel's wifi connection couldn't cut it, they found a solution.  Adegga is an online "social wine discovery" site where can track wines that you like, see wines that friends like and do oh so many more things.  My description doesn't do it justice.  But every time I see them present it, I think that they are geniuses, so I've asked them to make a short video to describe how to use it so that when you sign up you can see just how smart these guys are, and just how useful this site can be!

Ryan and Gabriella Opaz www.catavino.net  They hardly need an introduction anymore, as organizers of the conference and the most ardent proponents of wine blogs and social media out there. They are doing by far the most innovative stuff out there as far as social media is concerned.  As we speak they are live blogging from the Wine Future conference in Logroño, Spain, and creating even more of a buzz than the conference itself!!

Wine on the Rocks, Finkus Bripp, www.wineontherocks.com  This is a newcomer to the blogging world having just launched his video blog in September.  I am in love with this blog and can't wait for more episodes to be posted!! These guys have some serious talent for video editing, music selection and Finkus has a great on camera presence, this blog will go far if they can find the time to keep it going!  Don't miss this one guys!!

Rocio Osborne www.rocioosborne.wordpress.com  Yes, she is a real Osborne, as in Osborne sherry,  Rocio writes a very engaging blog recounting her travels and adventures as she becomes more involved with her family's company.

Melanie Tarlant www.champagne-blog.com  The brother-sister duo of Melanie and Benoit Tarlant have been on the blogging scene ever since I can remember and they maintain their blog in both French and English.  From harvest to pressing, to blending and bottling they are avid bloggers and lots of fun to follow on their blog and on Facebook.  It should also be noted that Mélanie can really get down on the dance floor, she put us all to shame on the last evening of the conference!

Voilà  just a few of the super interesting wine people that I befriended and discovered at the conference. Sorry to those I didn't have the time and space to include!!  I hope you take the time to check out their blogs and discover some of the amazing things that are going on out there in the blogging world!!

Comments

[ryan]

Awesome write up! The people make the conference, and if you ever miss one we're not sure what we will do! :) Thanks for coming and making it even better...oh and for shaming us into renting a car for a mandatory 4hr drive.

[Gabriella Opaz]

Thanks Amy for your fantastic post. Although, one must admit, for someone who hasn't really felt a "need" to come to the EWBC for two years running, you're doing an amazing job supporting the cause ;-) Should I just put you on an automatic sign up list for the next decade? :) Have a great weekend!

[Andre Ribeirinho]

We'll be making the video very soon. Thanks for this wonderful flashback at the Conference. It was great seeing you again! Now we have some La Gramiere wines to taste in an Adegga home made tasting ... :)

[AlbertoManuel]

I don't understand the point of this article. In Portugal there are around 20 active wine blogs but I don't see any of them here.

http://www.twibes.com/group/drinkedin
http://www.drinkedin.blogspot.com/

[Oscar Quevedo]

Hi Amy,

I have only found this nice post now. Great to go through these words and remember the fun time we had at the conference. I enjoyed a lot seeing you again and I'm already looking forward to the next time we meet again!

Hi Alberto, actually Quevedo is Portuguese and Adegga.com too!

Oscar

[wine production]

you are wines of great taste for your palate about two years ago I was in Europe with the great fortune to know a little more of this culture of wine
and perplexed me with their beauty and freshness
I hope to visit Italy again