Greetings from Finger Lakes!

Greetings from Corning, New York! After a long day of travel, I have arrived at the Wine Bloggers Conference. Now, I am a newbie as this is my first WBC and let's hope I don't need get jumped in or hazed! Since I landed, I will be busy busy busy in breakout sessions, wine tastings, keynote speeches, winemaker dinners, networking opportunities, etc. Below is a sneak peek into my schedule over the next 48 hours:

Thursday August 13
7pm-9pm Registration & Welcome Reception at the Riverfont Centennial Park (Keuka Lake Wine Trail tastes, small plates from local restaurants, and live music)


Here is a sneak peak at the beautiful sunset in Corning today.  This was my view as I walked to the opening reception.  Gorgeous.

Friday August 14
9:30am-10:30am Keynote Speaker (Karen MacNeil: author of The Wine Bible)
10:30am-11:30am Introduction to the Finger Lakes Wine Country panel
11:30am-1:30pm lunch and Expo
1:30pm-2:30pm Wine Discovery Session (Riesling-King of the Finger Lakes) & Tasting
2:45pm-3:45pm Wine Tasting with LIVE blogging and tweeting (it's like speed dating, but for wine! 10 winemakers have 5 minutes each to pour and tell us about their wine; we are expected to live tweet as we taste!)
4:15pm-9pm Finger Lakes Tasting Excursion (we'll be hopping on buses and spending 5 hours exploring the Finger Lakes Region)
9pm Wines of New York! Tasting and Reception at the Rockwell Museum (New York wines, sweet treats, live music, and art)
11pm Jordan Winery After Hours

Saturday August 15
9:15am-10:15am Breakout Session TBD
10:30am-11:30am Breakout Session TBD
11:30am-1pm Lunch with the Seneca Lake Winery Association
1:15pm-2:15pm Wine Discovery Session: Wines Across the Andes
2:30pm-3:30pm Panel with the 2015 Wine Blogger Award Winners
3:30pm-4:30pm Wine Tasting with LIVE Blogging and Tweeting
6pm flight back to LA!

LOTS of fun stuff...I'm exhausted just looking at it. And I know you're wondering how does one go about drinking so much wine in one day and not be totally drunk! When you are tasting this much wine, you're doing just that....tasting. No one in their right mind is going to actually swallow/drink the wine throughout the day. We'll be sipping the wines, swirling them in our mouths, and then spitting. I know to some, this is sacrilege, but 'tis the life of a somm!

Watch my social media feeds over the next 48 hours for sneak peeks into the conference, updates, and fun pictures. You can sign up to follow SOMMspirations on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest to the right! Upon my return to LA, stay tuned for a two-part recap of the conference. I'll have lots of fun information, tips, pictures, and tasting notes to share!

Before I go, let's acknowledge and thank some of the sponsors of WBC15. With their support, Citizen Bloggers like myself can afford to attend this conference.  Thank you!


Elite-Finger Lakes Wine Country Tourism Marketing Association, Corning Enterprises, and Elmira Corning Regional Airport 

Grand-Seneca Lake Winery Association, Cayuga Lake Wine Trail, The Corning Museum of Glass, Banfi Vinters, Montes Winery, Kaiken Winery, Ribera y Rueda, Wordpress.com, Wines of Alsace, Corning's Gaffer District, The Rockwell Museum, New York's Finger Lakes Region, Bottlenotes, Ribera del Duero and Rueda, New York State, SCIDA.

Off to bed for the night!  It's well pass midnight here in Corning and I have a FULL day tomorrow.  As you already know!