Wine Trail Traveler

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Wine Trail Traveler decide which wineries to visit?

This depends on who organizes our itinerary. If we make the itinerary, we are looking for a number of wineries in a region to visit. We look for both small production wineries as well as large production wineries that are open during the days of our visit. When our itinerary is made by a PR firm, CVB, or advocacy group, then we give feedback but generally follow the itinerary they provide.

Can a winery/vineyard request a visit?
We receive requests for visits all the time. We can visit local wineries/vineyards; however, many of our invitations come from wineries quite a distance from where we live. If the winery is outside a day trip from the Baltimore region, then the travel costs increase since we have to include lodging and possibly airfare and car rental. This is the reason we try to visit several wineries in a region on one itinerary. When we plan a five-day visit to a region we can visit 10 to 15 wineries. A ten-day visit allows us to see 20 to 25 wineries. If a winery is interested in a visit, please send an email to terry at winetrailtraveler.com.

How many wineries/vineyards has WTT staff visited?
As of December 2019, WTT staff has visited and written about more than 1,400 wineries/vineyards.

What was your favorite winery to visit?
We discovered that each winery/vineyard is unique and has a story to tell. The passion for wine is there, but how people came to that passion is different. We choose not to have a favorite winery because there are so many wineries we would be delighted to return to again.

What is your favorite wine?
This is the question asked most often. We taste a diverse number of wines that we write about throughout the year. Our favorite is whatever we are drinking at the time when there is food and friends. Another often-used response is "any wine from Aglianico to Zweigel.t" That response covers the alphabet of wines.

What does it cost to publish a winery article?
We do not charge wineries for publishing an article about them. Our cost to visit a winery and publish an article includes two categories. One category involves the time needed to interview, write, edit photos, and create web pages as well as the expense of the domain name and website hosting. Our other category of costs includes traveling to a wine region and the need for lodging. Because of the travel expenses, articles can range from $250 per article for wineries and vineyards within a 100-mile radius of where our writers live to $1,000 per winery visit for overseas journeys. Most of the articles involving an airline flight within the United States cost an average of $350. So while it costs Wine Trail Traveler to visit and write articles about wineries, we do not charge a winery for visiting and writing the article.

What is Wine Trail Traveler's source of revenue?
Wineries, lodging facilities, tour groups, restaurants and wine tourism companies can advertise on the Wine Trail Traveler website. For more information about advertising, see the advertising page. We have written four books and sell the books. We also charge for presentations.

Is the Wine Trail Traveler Website a Blog?
This question is often asked by winery/vineyard staff who have not looked at the website. The website is an online publication that has a blog on it; however, the site itself is not a blog. Articles appearing under the Winery Reviews menu, the Wine Simplified menu and Columnists under the Opinion menu are in-depth articles whose purpose is to inform. These articles are written in the third person and give the reader information about a winery, vineyard or gentle wine education. Entries in the blog are different. Topics vary from those mentioned above to include wine industry politics, products, charities, events, festivals and wine news. The blog entries are short articles often written in the first person. Although many blog entries do inform, some voice opinion.

What books have you published?
As of December 2017 we have four books published. Our first book A Wine Journey was published in November 2012. It encourages readers to become involved in learning about wine, making wine and participating in wine travel. In September 2013 our second book was published. A Wine Tourist's Guide: Visiting Tasting Rooms informs the reader about the experience and etiquette of visiting tasting rooms. Reading this book should eliminate any fear or apprehension factor that someone may have about visiting wineries. Our third book Georgia, Sakartvelo: the Birthplace of Wine was published in March 2014. The book looks at the country Georgia and its 8,000 years of wine growing and winemaking. Several chapters discuss qvevri making and qvevri winemaking, a cultural experience that has been added to the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Our fourth book A Wine Lexicon: Increasing Your Knowledge published in 2017 is a resource book of wine terms. Many of the words have a short understandable definition. Some words have indepth information or stories about the wine term.

Does Wine Trail Traveler accept articles from other writers?

Articles submitted to WTT

The majority of the writing is done by Kathy and Terry. Our daughters have written numerous articles about wine and wineries. Kathy and Terry have written more than 1,400 articles and thousands of blog posts. However, we have had some others contribute.

The Wine Trail Traveler site is a winery and vineyard virtual visitor center; therefore, we try not to diminish a winery. We always look for the best that a winery has to offer.

Guidelines:

Article Length: 400 to 800 words
Photos: jpeg or png format
Topics: wine-related, wineries, wine travel, wine education, wine and food pairings
Submit articles as a Word or Pages document or copy and paste into an email.

Submissions should be sent to Terry at winetrailtraveler.com.