Winerabble turns 10!

Wow, my blog baby turned 10 yesterday! My oh my, how time flies! When Matt and I launched Winerabble, things were so different… together, we’ve come a long way on our wine journey.

Back in the summer of 2011, I had only lived in Oregon for a year and, after falling head over heels in love with our Pinot noir, was studying at the Northwest Wine Studies Center at Chemeketa College. I wanted to learn it all– viticulture, winemaking, wine marketing, and wine business. My wine knowledge was increasing, practically by the minute, and I was desperate to share everything I was learning. Taking evening classes in Salem, an hour’s drive away, meant I was arriving home quite late, but still wide awake and ready to talk about what I had learned that night. Matt, on the other hand, was ready for bed by the time I pulled into our driveway.

One night, after suffering from long-term sleep deprivation, he said, “You need an outlet! Maybe start a blog?” As soon as he said that, I had one of those “lightbulb” moments. Hmmm, what a great idea! The longer we let his idea percolate in our minds, the more we knew we needed to make it a reality.

I think you can agree that the wine world is filled with quite a lot of snobbery… so we began developing a game plan to instead discuss wine in plain English. One morning, while we were laying in bed brainstorming name ideas, Matt suggested Winerabble, a clever mashup of wine and rabble! Rabble-rouser, as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary:

That definition really juxtaposes nicely against the snobbish attitude found in the wine world. In the best possible way, we are rabble-rousers. Wine should be fun, interesting, and welcoming– not a private club exclusively for the elite. Over the last decade, Matt and I have based our content on this philosophy and will continue to do so in the future. While our focus has shifted over the last ten years, we still strive for continuously learning and sharing our wine knowledge with you, our wonderful readers and followers!

Winerabble not only launched my wine career but Matt’s as well. After working in advertising, he used our infant blog to get his first job in the wine industry. That led to better opportunities as Matt gained more experience, and now he manages the wine department of a small, high-end, family-owned grocery chain. Ten years ago, neither of us ever imagined the places Winerabble would take us and the people we would meet and befriend– including you!

Matt and I are so grateful for your support and love! We are here to serve you, so as I plan for the next ten years, I’d love to learn what you want more of! I’ve got plenty of ideas but also want to hear from you.

Please leave your ideas and suggestions in the comments or email me directly at michele@winerabble.com.