Somehow, after days of tasting tasty wines at the Wine Bloggers Conference, Jamie Foster of “Making Sense with Wine” managed to make me sound both sober and sane while taking about the Va Wine in My Pocket app! Thanks Jamie!
Update: after viewing this a second time, I’m not so sure about the sober part…
One of my favorite features in the Virginia Wine in My Pocket app is the ability for readers to comment about their winery experience, directly IN the app! I get notified by email when someone comments, and then – as Queen App Controller – I get to hit the “publish” button that makes the comment live – immediately! – in the app.
Comments have really been picking up steam in the last couple of months, as more and more people have begun to notice the “comment” link. Sometimes, sorry to say, the comments aren’t the best, and I publish those, too, but mostly they are raves.
Here are a few we’ve gotten in recently, with congrats to the wineries for doing such a great job of keeping the customer happy!
About the brand new Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards near Charlottesville:
“WOW. Gorgeous. Absolutely stunning. Flights, not tastings, so the pours are very generous. $5 per flight, so $10 for both whites and reds. Good food too – atmosphere promotes lingering and enjoying food and wine. Awesome – our new favorite go-to winery in the Charlottesville area.”
About Jefferson Vineyards, also near Charlottesville:
“Awesome viogner! The regular chard was good too, and that from a girl who doesn’t really like Chardonnay 
tasting fee is high, but the Riedel glass is fantastic – no logos or anything!!”
About New Kent Winery, north of Williamsburg:
“This place is what got me started on wine. Is and will always be my favorite winery!”
About Prince Michel Vineyard near Culpeper:
“The staff is amazing!! Had such a great time that I visited twice in one day. The tasting is $5 to taste 15 wines of your choice. The fee is waived if you join one of their wine clubs. (which I did!) ”
About Aspen Dale Winery in Delaplane:
“I have been to this vineyard three times! I love the staff and of course Shea the owner. A very personal atmosphere. They don’t rush you leave. I love that they do a food pairing with every wine. ”
Oh, and this one’s about us 
“Keep up the great work, you seem to stay on top of things! This is a very great app! Don’t stop doing what you are doing!”
Thanks to all the commentators – keep ‘em coming!
View "What visitors are saying about Virginia wineries" on its own page.
Well, folks, new day, new adventure. It looks like we’ve gone retail!
I got to thinking that the whole Virginia Wine in My Pocket app thing seems very amorphous. We meet people, we talk about the app, people exclaim “Great idea! How cool!” A week later, we run into the same people and they say “What was that thing you were telling us about again? That cool thing you’re doing? Here, tell my friend about it – it’s so cool!”
As much as we relish being the cool kids on the block for this little blink of eternity, what we’d really love is if people downloaded the app and tried it out.
So we came up with the idea of putting the download codes onto gift cards and selling them through wineries, wine shops, and stuff like that there. But we needed a guinea pig. A winery that’s small enough to work with (i.e., they’ll return our emails and phone calls), new enough to still be enthusiastic, and fun enough that none of us gets all stressed out over it.
Helloooo, Desert Rose! Just open for a few months, Bob & Linda Claymier’s place fit the bill in every way, and they are now carrying the app. It’s priced at $3.99, just like in the iTunes store, but you walk away with the download code in your hand, so when you get home, you just fire up your ‘pooter, enter the code, and you’re golden.
 Here’s a great shot of the crew at Desert Rose with Drew, their very first app customer! Also in the shot are Bob & Linda, and their granddaughter Hannah, who sometimes works the register. (Special shout out to the Flemers at Ingelside Vineyards on the Northern Neck, who are stepping up as guinea pig #2!) |
| Linda also picked up some of the woven Buri Wine Bags that we’re distributing, to sell in the tasting room – here’s a shot of that. The bags are part of The Buri Bag Project, a micro-lending program that supports women weavers and their families in Sampoloc, Philippines. |  |
| And here’s a shot of Jonathan and Emily at Cheesetique in Delray (near Old Town Alexandria), which is also carrying the Buri Wine Bags. (Thanks, guys!) |
Let me know if you’re interested in carrying the app gift cards or the bags. Pricing for both allows the usual retail markups. Hey, a guinea pig’s gotta eat.
View "Look for the app (and wine bags!) at a winery near you!" on its own page.
Oh, jeez. What am I doing in the shower?
I came upstairs to exercise, got distracted, and wound up with a head full of shampoo, pondering big questions. Such as: is it worth exercising now, seeing as how I’m already clean? And: what am I doing with my life?
It’s been like this since I officially started my Virginia Wine in My Pocket sabbatical.
Sabbatical. That’s what I’m calling this summer. A window of opportunity to reinvent myself after 20 years of marketing communications consulting, and maybe a chance to help Rick create an exit strategy of his own. In May, with a little money set aside, I walked away from the world’s best clients and colleagues to explore whether there’s a living to be made with the Virginia Wine in My Pocket website and app.
“In this economy? Are you sure about this?” I can hear my fiscally responsible parents fretting, back in that part of memory where all the dire warnings from life on Shawmont Lane dwell. And no, I’m not sure. But I can sum up the sabbatical in five words:
“Big Birthdays” and “Life is Short”
Which brings me back to The Big Question, the one I’ve been asked repeatedly, at dinners with friends and networking lunches with strangers: So, where are you and your husband going with this app? What’s your plan?
Now, that’s not an easy question to answer. I much prefer “Why did you decide to write an app about Virginia wine country?” That’s easy.
a) because with leaps in wine quality, the number of tasting rooms poised to tip 200, and enthusiastic government backing, Virginia is IMHO the next big thing in U.S. wine travel
b) because (most) Virginia wineries are a thing of beauty, settled into rolling farmland, down twisty turny back roads, and that beats the heck out of the Beltway
c) because we think this app will make us popular at cocktail parties. (Okay, I think this app will make us popular at cocktail parties. Rick – and if you meet him, you’ll figure this out real quick – really couldn’t care less.)
But the difference between “sabbatical” and “in for the long haul” is spelled m-o-n-e-y, so eventually I’ll need an answer to The Big Question: where are we going?
Well, on Thursday we’re going to the Wine Bloggers Conference in Charlottesville. (Yeah, buddy – there’s such a thing as a WINE Blogger’s Conference!) Maybe that’ll give us a few clues. And I’ll let you know how that popular thing pans out, too.
View "Hey! Where are you going with that app?!!" on its own page.
Tasting room at 8 Chains North (at Christmas - the tree is no more)
Yicky weekend ahead in NoVa.
Try out these rainy day wineries (pretty inside as well as out), and see more Rainy Day Picks in the Virginia Wine in My Pocket app for iPhone & iPad.
8 Chains North (northeast)
Annefield Vineyards (south)
Afton Mountain (mid-south)
Rappahannock Cellars (northwest)
West Wind (southwest)
Ingleside (Northern Neck)
We learned yesterday that our iPhone app/travel guide to Virginia Wine Country – Virginia Wine in My Pocket – is now available for download through the Apple iTunes store ($3.99).
We’ll be making the “official” announcement later this month, in time for Virginia Wine Week (March 18 – 27), but wanted our blog readers to be the first to know. Enjoy, and let us know what you think!
More to come….
Before there was Virginia Wine in My Pocket, there was Rehoboth in My Pocket – my and Rick’s first app.
In January 2010, when we realized that our life’s calling was to create travel apps and make a living on third-world wages, we owned a rental cottage in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Rehoboth is a small, ultra-charming community of beach cottages, outlet shopping, and surprisingly great restaurants about 3 hours from Washington, D.C. An off-season population of about 2500 swells to a half million or more on summer weekends (no one really counts, but you know…you know…). We knew it well, loved it deeply, and thought: how hard can it be?
Not too hard, as it turned out. Racing to launch before summer season of 2010, we wrote, photographed, published and promoted the app in about three months. (Virginia Wine in My Pocket, on the other hand, took about ten months; we blame it on the alcohol consumption. And GPS maps.)
But apps, unlike print travel guides, don’t just lay there. They call out “Dated! I’m dated! Update me!” They have neat features that allow app purchasers to comment directly INTO the app with queries such as “Where’s Anchor Inn? Where’s Crabby Dicks? I asked for them last fall!!” And unless you are completely without pride or integrity as a travel writer, you feel IMMEDIATELY compelled to correct your sins and add the requested listings.
And so here we are, back in our beloved Rehoboth (without rental cottage this time; after three years on the market, it sold in June), updating the app.
And drinking Virginia wine. Our companions this weekend: an absolutely kick-*** Traminette from Abingdon Winery, half a bottle of the beguiling Old Red Tractor from The Homeplace Vineyards, and an as-yet unopened Pearmund Cellars Malbec. We are in good company. (Oh, and yes that is a plastic cup you see in the picture. Our apologies, but you do the best you can with what you got
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