Taking This to New Places

So over the past three months there has been a readership slide.  Co-pilot reminds me that this is a marathon not a race.  But I set a goal of 1000 views per month, got close in January with 866, and have gone down since then.

This isn’t a business or a paying gig, nor is it really intended to be (tho you can visit the products endorsed on amazon and buy some, earning me some commission in the process…..).  It’s meant to be a creative outlet because I love writing and need to write for things other than my job.  I enjoy learning more about wine, and taking people to see new places they haven’t been that I have enjoyed.  That’s the topic of many of the entries.  Occasionally I like to spout off politically too, so you get posts about climate change’s impact on wine, or how a certain orange fool will ruin the economy and make it harder for winemakers who aren’t part of massive agro-business to produce wine.

Co-pilot is of the opinion that when I do some of these more meta-posts they are better cause they sound more like me.  I’m not the type that sits around and talks about stone fruit flavors hitting the mid palate or the taste of dried leather in your mouth, though I do occasionally add that into posts when I actually taste it in the wine.  I’d agree with that in general.

So I’ve been thinking about different features for the blog too.  One thing I love about visiting these smaller wineries is getting the chance to talk to the winemakers and owners about their process and philosophy.  Because I really do see winemaking as an intersection of science and art, (and I really love science and respect artists since I don’t see myself as having much in the way of artistic talent), hearing about what they are doing is very interesting.

So I’m seriously considering adding features where I more formally interview winemakers and owners (I’m assuming they’ll actually give me enough of their time to do this, which may be hard given that many want to connect with their other customers too).  I doubt the interviews would be that long, but enough to write about their view of their mission and what sets them apart from other wineries.

Wine Friend 2’s wife recommends actually interviewing other customers from time to time, with two or three simple questions like “How did you choose this winery to visit today?” “What’s your favorite wine here and why?” and “What appeals to you about winery visits?”  The idea would be to non-intrusive so as to not spoil their visit and be a pest, but rather to get a sense of what people like and why people visit local wineries – is it the power of the “shop local” movement or is there more to it?  This is one to be careful with, as I wouldn’t want to disrupt the flow of business for the winery or be arrested as a public nuisance.

Then there are always comparison tastings, which I want to host more of, and write about those on here.  I think WordPress lets me insert videos, so we could even add in the actual sampling of the wines to get a sense for what the experience was like for everyone.

What do you think, loyal readers?  What kinds of features would you like to see here, and how can we grow the readership in this MyNovaWine Blog community?