I’ve just returned from an amazing five day visit to Washington State, where not only did I attend the Wine Bloggers Conference in Walla Walla, but I was also one of 12 lucky winners of the WBC Or Bust contest with a plethora of pre and post conference activities. If you’re familiar with this site, you know I like to use photographs. Lots of them. At this moment I’m in the photo editing process and will probably be at it until at least tomorrow. I wanted to say the event was above and beyond all expectations. I hope the five days I spent there will help make this a more enjoyable and relevant place for you to visit. While I work on the photos, here are a few stories I thought you might enjoy from some of those who were a part of this great experience.

Lettie Teague from the Wall Street Journal gave one of the keynote speeches and brings a breath of fresh air to the party. Here’s her take on finding the right words to describe wine.

Joe Herrig publishes Suburban Wino and was part of a panel on Top Gun Blogging. He hails from Atlanta and we had a chance to visit on the bus ride back to Seattle from Walla Walla. He shares a few of his thoughts on the experience here.

Joe and Amy Power are from Houston and were two of the contest winners. Joe publishes Another Wine Blog and hopes his liver will return soon.

Lorie O’Sullivan is a sommelier and publishes Lorie Loves Wine. She thought the wines we tasted were exceptional.

Many more stories, mine included, will be along in short order. More than anything what I take home is a bigger circle of friends and wonderful memories of the warm embrace we were given by the Washington Wine Commission.