Wine Blogger Conference 2

Day 2 began at the Flamingo Resort, also known as the Flaming-O...
We gathered at 9am and boarded a series of buses. Driving north on 101, the buses headed east on River Road over to Calistoga and on to the Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena. We were treated to a fantastic continental breakfast as we sat down for the keynote addresses.
Introducing the speakers was the head of the Napa Valley Vintners Association, a woman whose face was familiar to me. She was one of my potential "matches" on match.com! I wondered if she recognized my face in the crowd. Small world!
Barry Shuler, one of the founders of AOL, gave an entertaining talk about our being on the cusp of a new paradigm, with the big shots of Old Media falling by the wayside. He spoke of our needing to pass through the Valley of Death to find out what awaits us on the other side. (Well, okay... he said "Death Valley", but I think "the Valley of Death" has a better ring to it. More Biblical, Less 20-Mule Team.) The second speaker, whose name escapes me as I type, spoke of some of the emerging technologies and strategies for making it through said Valley.
After all was said, we emerged from the CIA to explore the Valley of Napa, each bus departing to a different location. My bus went first to Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, where we were treated to a delicious lunch of Lemon Chicken, Roast Beef, Roasted Vegetables and a Walnut & Goat Cheese-laden Salad. Accompanying the meal were ever-full glasses of Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. ("Wait, I thought I finished that... Oh well..."). On to the next stop!
At our second stop we heard 3 young "lucky spermers" go on about "family-owned wineries", where it's all about the passion for making wine and not about making money. (That's why the wines were all priced somewhat below $100, unlike those other greedy folks who priced their wine higher.) All of this folksy talk rang a bit hollow, especially in an echo-y, 5-story underground fermentation room that looked like the set of a James Bond movie, sans sinister Rocket Ship of Doom. The small bites and cheeses that went with their wines WERE very good, but my appetite was tempered by the juxtaposition of "aw-shucks" and over-the-top opulence.
Onward!
Next stop was another winery at mid-valley, where some 50 (!) Napa vintners were pouring their wines. All of the diverging buses reconverged there. With about a half-hour at that location, I was mostly still recovering from lunch. I think I tasted 3 wines... a half-hour wasn't nearly enough time to even read all of the table signage. Back on the Bus! We split up again...
Our bus went to Domaine Chandon for a splendid dinner of Dungeness Crab in a Chicken Broth, followed by perfectly-roasted Beef Tenderloin, and a Raspberry-Chocolate dessert concoction, all accompanied by a flight of eight different wines! It was a great day of wine and food - not much that had to do with blogging other than the fact that we were "wine bloggers".
The buses finally returned to the Flaming-O, where there was an after-party awaiting us: More Wine! This time it was wines from Portugal. I wandered briefly through the room before deciding that I needed sleep more than I needed more wine.
Stuffed over-full of fine food and wine, tempered by the hour-long bus ride back, I headed home to my own bed.