Vino 2010

One week from today, I’ll be heading up to New York for Vino 2010, which, according to the event’s web site, will be “the biggest Italian wine event ever held outside of Italy.”

Not a bad way to spend a week, right?

I am among a very fortunate group of wine journalists, bloggers, and members of the trade to have been invited up to the city for several days of seminars, tastings, and dinners. And while I’ve attended many tastings and events before, this one promises to be different in a number of ways, not least of which is the high level of attention being paid to bloggers and the ever-more-important role of online and social media in the world of wine.

One of the most anticipated events next week, a panel discussion called “Virtual Vino, Millenials, and Social Media Decanted,” will take place on Thursday morning, February 4th, at 10:00am. What makes this so unique is not just its esteemed panel, but also the fact that it will be available through a live video feed online at www.italianmade.com/vino2010. It will also be fully interactive, as even people not in attendance will have the opportunity to submit questions beforehand via Twitter. Readers of this blog should definitely take advantage of the opportunity to participate in this one-of-a-kind event. You can comment on this blog or write to me with issues that you want me to cover next week, and make sure to post specific questions for the Virtual Vino panel on Twitter to @vino2010 or @JRvino2010. (James Rodewald, former drinks editor of Gourmet Magazine, is the official blogger of the event.)

And then, of course, there are the other seminars and events. That’s the beauty of large-scale gatherings like Vino 2010: They provide the chance to not only delve into specific facets of the wine world--from seminars on the outlook for the 2009 vintage in Italy, to a guided tasting of the great Sardinian red grape variety Cannonau, to a mammoth tasting featuring more than 300 Italian wine producers, to wine dinners featuring specific regions--but also to take stock of what still remains one of the most exciting, interesting, and beloved wine-producing countries in the world.

I’ll be posting regular updates throughout my three days in New York next week, and I’d love for readers of UncorkLife.com to take advantage of all the opportunities for online interaction as possible. Please don’t hesitate to ask questions and get involved throughout.