Vote for Vinography in the 2012 Wine Blog Awards

The finalists for the 2012 Wine Blog Awards have been announced and voting is now open to members of the public. The Wine Blog Awards are the longest running set of awards focused exclusively on the world of Wine Blogs.

If you're reading this wine blog, then chances are you probably read one or two others, and therefore you know better than anyone what passes for compelling content when it comes to wine blogs. Which is why you should exercise your vote and support the folks that spend their time writing about wine for free so you can enjoy it. I'm pleased to announce that Vinography has been selected as a finalist in three categories this year: Best Writing, Best Wine Reviews, and Best Individual Blog Article (for my piece about the 2009 vintage according to Domaine de la Romaneé-Conti)

These awards aren't just a chance for you to make your opinion heard, they're also a great way for you to learn about sites you might not know about already, in particular thanks to the Best New Wine Blog category which the awards are featuring for the third year in a row.

Here's a link to the voting form. Voting will close at Midnight Pacific Time on Thursday, July 26th. Voting should take about 45 seconds if you're familiar with the candidates, or a bit longer if you want to browse around and check out who's contending for the awards.

Thanks for doing your part to support wine bloggers everywhere, and in particular for your support of Vinography. It's better than any paycheck.

Now go vote. (and don't forget to click "done" at the bottom of the page when you're finished.

Posted by: Alder on July 20, 2012 3:12 PM: Tweet; Share this post elsewhere: Digg it! - Add to del.icio.us - Add to Stumbleupon - Add to Reddit; Filed under: Ramblings and Rants

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Comments (4)

Dennis Tsiorbas wrote:

07.20.12 at 4:14 PM

I have NO idea how these finalists are chosen, but STEVE HEIMOFF, though I often heartily disagree with him, has THE most interesting, well written, and provocative wine blog anywhere I know of; that makes these awards subject to the "American Idol" effect and of little value to me. Sorry!

TJ Jones wrote:

07.20.12 at 4:36 PM

I agree with Dennis. I'm glad that Vinography was included. It is a wonderful blog. But some of my favorites, including Steve Heimoff, were not. I wonder who nominates and who votes. It does seem to be a good way to learn about other blogs but Vinography already lists them all so one can easily look them up.

Alder wrote:

07.20.12 at 5:09 PM

Dennis, TJ,

That information would be pretty easy to figure out, if you did care about it. But to save you the trouble: public nominations are made using the award web site during a specific period of time, and then finalists are selected by a panel of judges which you can read about on the same web site. I happen to know that Steve Heimoff's blog, which I also read with some regularity, was nominated, but clearly not chosen by the panel of judges.

Award programs can never satisfy everyone, and they always use criteria that not everyone agrees with. This one is as flawed as any other, and must be taken for what it is.

As for what value the awards might have to you, as readers, I imagine practically none, no matter how they were organized or what their selection process would be. Sort of like Dental Hygenist of the Year, no?

Thanks for your support, in any case.

Alder

1winedude wrote:

07.21.12 at 4:38 AM

TJ / Dennis - I can respect that & Steve's blog is among several omissions from the finalists lists that disappointed me.

Having said that, I'd encourage you to have this conversation at the WBA site itself, where the organizers can also comment, etc. Regardless of the outcome and of who is on the list, this is a community and communities thrive most when they enjoy the support of their members.

Of course, I'm not saying the WBAs shouldn't be criticized (I've got a long history of doing that myself!) but for my $0.02 here, I just want to congratulate Alder on the well-deserved recognition. Cheers!