Unfussy Wine - A Year In Review

It is hard to believe that we started this journey a year ago today with our very first post.  We never really had an overarching goal or plan or strategy or message...we just love talking about wine.  Wine in general for sure, but more importantly wines we will drink and buy everyday, which are generally under $30 and most likely between $10 and $20 (or $5 to $10 when we lived in the US).  When we first started posting, it was mainly to our friends and family and was an opportunity to share some of the great wines that we have found with them.  What has happened since those early posts has truly been astounding. 

Here are some Fun Facts about our little blog over the last year:

• 194 Total Posts (we fell just short of 200, but we tried, still that is a little more than one post every other day - not too shabby) 
• Over 110 wines reviewed (it is a hard job but....)
• Over 3,200 Total Visits to the Blog from just over 2,150 Unique Visitors (Thank You!) 
• Over 5,700 Pageviews from Viewers in 71 different countries (Thank You Again!) 
• Most Visits by any Country = Canada at just over 2,000 (no surprises there), second USA (just over 600), and UK third (just over 80) 
• Longest time spent on the site by a Viewer from a Country with a Single Visit = Sri Lanka (Thanks for coming and spending time on our Blog!) 
• Average time on the Blog for a Viewer = 1 minute 51 seconds (Pretty good we think considering today's ever shortening attention span)

After creating the Blog, we jumped into the Twitterverse about three weeks later and since that time we have put out 927 Tweets, have Followed 698 People/Groups, and we now have 461 Followers.  We are very happy about that.  Our Facebook page results have been somewhat uninspired.  We don't put a lot of unique and new content there (mostly shared from Twitter) so we only have 15 Likers.  We are thinking of ways to jazz up that end of the content spectrum so more to come on that and don't get us started on Google+.

Earlier this year, we were very fortunate to be able to attend the Atlantic Wine Symposium as a member of the general public.  We tried to give our input during some of the sessions and ask a few, hopefully meaningful, questions.  From that we were able to get to know a number of great folks in the Wine industry here in Eastern Canada and we love their entrepreneurial spirit and passion.  It is contagious to say the least.

The past year has been a massive education in discipline, online media, the business of wine, and our own palates.  We know now, more than ever, what we like and what we don't like in wines.  We have found great new wines from unique regions such as Mencia from Bierzo in Spain, Carménère from Chile, New Zealand Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Franc from the Niagara and Okanagan in Canada, and the list goes on.  The great news is that there are so many fantastic wines out there to try, it makes this journey a very enjoyable one. 

Hopefully, our writing has been entertaining and engaging.  We certainly do not want to bore you or overwhelm you with too much information and flowery prose.  Our opinions are just that....opinions.  We welcome folks that challenge our tasting notes and give us fantastic ideas.  We are not trained sommeliers, though we may act like it at times, so our opinions deal mostly with our own personal bias and impressions.  As 2012 comes to a close, and if the Mayans are wrong, we look forward to a great holiday season and a happy and healthy 2013.  Thanks for all the support!

To Your Health | Pour votre santé | A su salud | Za vaše zdravlje | Para a súa saúde | თქვენს ჯანმრთელობას | Um Ihre Gesundheit | Για την υγεία σας | आपके स्वास्थ्य के लिए | Per la tua salute | Para sua saúde | Kwa afya yako | Terveydelle | Op uw gezondheid | Untuk kesihatan anda | Sa iyong kalusugan | 为了您的健康 | Vir jou gesondheid | Dla Twojego zdrowia | För din hälsa | لصحتك
| 건강에 | Для Вашего здоровья | เพื่อสุขภาพของคุณ | Et oma tervist | За твое здраве | Cho sức khỏe của bạn | Jūsų sveikatai | Til dit helbred | به سلامتی شما | Heilsu þinni | உங்கள் உடல் | Zure osasuna | Jūsu veselībai | あなたの健康に | În cinstea dumitale | Sağlığınız için | A la seva salut | আপনার স্বাস্থ্য | צו דיין געזונט

These are most of the languages of those countries who have visited the blog.  Please excuse the translations if they are inaccurate, it was the best that Google could do, the sentiment remains. :)

Keep on tasting!

Chris & Shannon