{"id":16306,"date":"2011-01-27T11:04:01","date_gmt":"2011-01-27T09:04:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=16306"},"modified":"2011-01-28T08:34:12","modified_gmt":"2011-01-28T06:34:12","slug":"blog-with-passion-food-wine-bloggers-advised","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/cape-town\/blog-with-passion-food-wine-bloggers-advised\/","title":{"rendered":"Blog with passion, Food & Wine Bloggers advised"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Food and wine bloggers should blog with passion, they were told by both wine blogger Dusan Jelic and food blogger Linda Harding, who addressed the first meeting of the Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club of 2011 and which was held at Pigalle Restaurant.\u00a0\u00a0 It was the largest attendance in the nine-month history of the Bloggers’ Club, and representatives of food and wine PR companies, food bloggers, wine bloggers, wine estates,\u00a0and even the author of “Pinotage’, the only book written about this wine variety, UK-based Peter May, attended.<\/p>\n

Dusan Jelic introduced the bloggers to wines he had brought along from Wederwill (12\u00b0C\u00a0 and 17\u00b0C) and Avontuur (Vintner’s\u00a0Blend Ros\u00e9 and their Brut).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dusan started working as the Social\u00a0 Networking and Media Manager of wine.co.za in May last year, and he embraces Facebook, blogging and Twitter for the company, spending about 9,5 hours daily with social media.\u00a0 His company’s website is the most comprehensive data base of wine information in South Africa, it was said.\u00a0\u00a0 He gave bloggers the following tips:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 Always be honest in what you say and write. One’s “reputation is priceless”, he said.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0 Wine education is important, and should be constantly improved.\u00a0 Dusan praised the Cape Wine Academy, as being\u00a0a top-class institution, and its courses at three levels.\u00a0 He himself is currently studying for his Diploma.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0 Dusan advised social media users to\u00a0‘don’t drink and Tweet’.\u00a0 He warned that it “reveals deep fears and thoughts”, and gives away more about oneself than one would have wanted to.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0 Have integrity, because you will be found out.\u00a0 Dusan quoted winemaker Abrie Bruwer of Springfield, who has not released one of his 1999 wines, because it is not ready yet.\u00a0 It could have been launched and earn revenue, but the brand would have suffered.\u00a0 One cannot fake passion and work ethic, Dusan said.<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0\u00a0 Trust your palate – Dusan explained about the different wine evaluation methods used, including the Decanter score out of 100, and the South African score out of 20.\u00a0\u00a0Platter uses stars.\u00a0\u00a0 He said one should respect those wine drinkers who are able to express what they can smell and taste in a\u00a0wine.\u00a0\u00a0 As one develops one skills, one will be able to smell and taste specific fruits. \u00a0Dusan advised one to be relaxed when tasting a wine:\u00a0 “wine is a living thing”, he said, and advised that it was acceptable to ‘slurp’ one’s wine when tasting it, to bring in air.<\/p>\n

6.\u00a0\u00a0 Do not be a freeloader.\u00a0 Freebies must be acknowledged in blogging.\u00a0 Give the sponsored brand credit, but also point out its weaknesses, if relevant.<\/p>\n

7.\u00a0 Do not write monotonously, approach an evaluation positively, and present the aspects which need to be improved.<\/p>\n

8.\u00a0\u00a0 However, in contrast, Dusan said that one should not be a “people\u00a0pleaser” in one’s blogging, as one would not have credibility.<\/p>\n

Dusan was asked which wine blogs he reads regularly, and his list includes Simon Back from Backsberg, and Emile Joubert from Wine Goggle, both previous speakers at Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club meetings.\u00a0\u00a0 He said that wine tasting was the beginning, but the ultimate was the pairing of wine and food.<\/p>\n

Linda Harding is\u00a0a bubbly blogger, who only started her blog Squashed Tomato, based on the title of a book she read as a child, in May last year.\u00a0 She is an intern for Eat In<\/strong> and Eat Out<\/strong>, and works in tasting rooms too.\u00a0 She described herself, highlighting that it is important to read other bloggers’ blogs, to get to know them and their personality, and that will determine who one will follow on Twitter and whose blogs one will read, she said.\u00a0 Linda is a Sagittarian, and\u00a0her star sign\u00a0defines who she is.\u00a0 She describes herself as a “flexitarian” as far as her eating goes, eating anything, especially seafood, but she once was a vegetarian!\u00a0\u00a0 Linda only started cooking four years ago, and\u00a0blogs about her recipes, which are\u00a0quick and easy to do and do not\u00a0need expensive ingredients.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0She started off using her cellphone camera, and has ‘progressed’ to a “mik en druk”, she laughed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

From input gleaned from other food bloggers, Linda presented a list of food trends for 2011:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 Food markets are increasingly the source of purchase, away from supermarkets<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0 Eating out will increasingly be for lunch on weekends<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0 Fruit-based desserts will become increasingly popular<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0 Restaurants serving all-day breakfasts are on trend<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0\u00a0 Meat will increasingly be bought from butchers who have personal relationships with the farmers that supply their meat<\/p>\n

6.\u00a0 Serving tapas in restaurants\u00a0is a strong trend<\/p>\n

7.\u00a0\u00a0 Good value for money quality offers will be a success formula for restaurants.<\/p>\n

8.\u00a0\u00a0 Meat-free Mondays will grow in support<\/p>\n

9.\u00a0\u00a0 Artisan bakers will receive increasing support<\/p>\n

10.\u00a0 Greater awareness of food origin and reading of pack labels.<\/p>\n

Linda sees Twitter as an important networking tool, and it reflects what one is passionate about.\u00a0 To be re-tweeted by Spit & Swallow, with their more than 6000 followers, is first prize,\u00a0she said.\u00a0 \u00a0Linda advised bloggers to ‘write for what you want, for what you enjoy, and not for what you think others want’.\u00a0\u00a0 She also advised one to read other\u00a0blogs regularly, and to evaluate their layout and photographs.\u00a0 To build relationships and to receive support and traffic, bloggers must give by commenting on others’ blogposts.\u00a0\u00a0 One should use one’s own photographs, where possible.\u00a0\u00a0 Images are vital, as ‘one eats with one’s eyes’.\u00a0 Spelling mistakes are unforgivable, especially as most blog platforms have a spellchecker.\u00a0\u00a0 One should become a real person on Twitter, sharing not just business information (such as a new blog post), but allow one’s personal side to come through as well, she advised.\u00a0\u00a0 Keeping awareness on Twitter throughout the day is vital, due to the volume of Tweets one is exposed to, but she advised against retweeting\u00a0one’s blog link more than once a day.<\/p>\n

The Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club was formed to allow food and wine bloggers to meet other more established\u00a0bloggers, to learn from them but also to network with them.\u00a0 There is no formal blogging course, and the Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club assists in growing the body of knowledge about blogging, through the sharing of information.\u00a0\u00a0 It also is an opportunity to\u00a0taste good wines, and to sample good restaurant food.<\/p>\n

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com<\/a>\u00a0 Twitter: @WhaleCottage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Food and wine bloggers should blog with passion, they were told by both wine blogger Dusan Jelic and food blogger Linda Harding, who addressed the first meeting of the Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club of 2011 and which was held at Pigalle Restaurant.\u00a0\u00a0 It was the largest attendance in the nine-month history of the Bloggers’ […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[4795,3,124,266,21,19],"tags":[9600,9606,9605,7945,3160,1591,2285,8427,32378,55,8484,137,138,4569,2381,4571,4796,9594,9604,9609,6266,9601,9495,9607,9608,9602,9596,9497,426,387,4511,32395,9610,4640,9603,1074,1587,9598,32373,4665,9599,9595,4570,9597,9498],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t