In case you haven' heard, the inaugural DC Wine Week is just around the corner. The event runs from October 15th to 22nd and includes a wide range of activities. You can keep up with their schedule on their website or follow them on Twitter @DCWIneWeek.
Lise Byrne, editor of DCeventjunkie and the force behind DC Wine Week, took a few minutes to answer some questions about the festivities.
1. What inspired you to do a DC Wine Week?
DC Wine Week was inspired by the reaction to a tweet I sent on August 20th, 2011. Sitting at home enjoying a glass of Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc I couldn’t help but notice the mass tweets around DC Beer Week and suddenly wondered why there wasn’t something similar for us wine lovers? A quick Google and domain search proved it had yet to be done in Washington, DC.
2. Is there any significance around the chosen week?
A Sunday brunch at Belga Café late August with Vanessa French sprung DC Wine Week into action. Founder of Pivot Point Communications, I knew Vanessa and her partner Casey Kincheloe were an accomplished, talented team and ideal partners for DCWW. What I didn’t know was that I’d leave that brunch with a new business partner and a plan to execute a citywide event in six weeks! The date was not hugely significant at the time. We plan to present DC Wine Week twice a year and didn’t want to push it too far into the winter. Our new event will take place in April, 2012.
3. DC has a large number of wine bars. I see Sonoma is participating in the event, has there been interest from other wine bars?
Yes, and the responses have been thankfully overwhelming. We currently have notable DC wine bars and restaurants Sonoma, Urbana, Vinoteca, Bourbon Steak and Co Co. Sala. Our citywide participants also include Zola Wine Kitchen, Bar Rogue, Policy, and more (please note all details are not complete on the schedule – more to come).
4. Which wineries are participating in the local wine tasting event?
At the Hamiltonian Gallery on October 19th the Washington Wine Academy will present 6 reds and 6 whites from local wineries and educate attendees on what they’re sipping and how it came to be.
(Specific wineries not available at this time)
5. There is a big social media component to this event, can you tell me about it? How can people participate virtually?
DCeventjunkie began as a Twitter account and grew into a business, leading to a career in social media for myself. Pivot Point Communications has developed and executed dozens of successful campaigns with a heavy emphasis on social media. This said it was only natural for us to incorporate our shared experiences into DC Wine Week, knowing what would resonate with our audience. We’ve made our presence known through Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Flickr, and YouTube – and that’s just to start, we plan to expand into several more social platforms before our spring event. DC Wine Week unofficially launched through social media days before the website was developed, it helped us to start the conversation and buzz as we were working on a short timeline! DC is number one is wine consumption and in social media so it just seemed like a natural fit.
We are putting together some Twitter chats to occur during DCWW to allow others to participate virtually. Moving into the spring event we will have more opportunities for online events.
6. Cupcakes and wine pairing are a relatively recent phenomenon, which cupcake shops and wineries are participating in that event?
Chocolate and wine is a great pairing if you ask us. Our Chocolate, Cupcakes & Wine event will take place at Co Co. Sala on Friday evening, October 21st. Attendees can purchase tickets to enjoy an hour of unlimited Prosecco with 5 chocolate pairings chased by a cupcake infused with wine from Cupcake Vineyards.
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