In a recent post on Open Wine Consortium, Brandy Bell sent out an invitation for bloggers to visit the winery she represents, Donati Family Vineyards (for which Cheryl Wolhar set up a Ning community).  It occurred to me that rather than have one winery on the itinerary, a variety of wineries might participate in a bloggers weekend, not unlike what the Napa Vintners coordiated for the North American Wine Bloggers Conference last month, though perhaps less grand.

I know Stacie Jacob and the PRWCA held a similar program for the 'mainstream" wine writers from around the country.  But rather than make it an out and out junket which couldn't be justified for bloggers especially given the challenging times, the bloggers could arrange to travel on their own and pay for lodging perhaps at some discount. 

I don't know that you would attract folks from outside CA, but a goodly portion of the wine blogging community resides in the state.  I bet we could arrange a van from the Greater Bay Area and the LA folks could car pool.  Visits and panels could be arranged over a weekend to minimize disruption with day jobs.

Having several wineries involved would generate more participation, as wonderful at Donati is.  Recent arrivals plus old timers like Gary Eberle and Doug Beckett would make such an outing most appealing.

We might even consider arranging more of a two way agenda, with the bloggers organizing a panel for the local wineries on the pros and cons of utilizing social media, with Donati showcased as one example. And Jason Haas could offer insights gleaned from his major blogging initiative on behalf of Tablas Creek. Some of us have talked about holding a half day session in the various AVAs, rather than have winery reps travel to Napa for one of those industry conferences.

Any comments?