Press
In a wine crazy city, a new Web site tells folks where to sip
BY JOHNATHAN L. WRIGHT • jwright@rgj.com • October 1, 2008A pronged silver star crowns the Reno Arch like a slightly gaudy topknot. But a good case could be made for replacing the star with a bottle of cab and a corkscrew.
Reno might be Artown every July, but Reno is wine town every night of the week. Precise numbers are hard to come by, but wine professionals say the number of local wine events has increased significantly in the past five years.
There are wine walks, charity tastings and tastings at retailers and restaurants. There are singles’ nights lubricated with vino and wine country trips organized by shops and enough wine dinners to cause a run on braised short ribs. The bake sale for the school band? It might just turn into a pinot tasting.
Given Reno’s vinous inclinations, it’s surprising that there hasn’t been a central resource listing the city’s wine events. That lack inspired John Green, a retired commercial airline pilot, and Cort Farmer, a comptroller, to found Wine Time Friends in March
Green and Farmer gather information on wine happenings across Northern Nevada and make it available on the Wine Time Friends Web site, http://www.wineosaurus.com/.“Before, venues had to be checked individually,” Green said. “Wine is our passion, and we decided this was a need we could fill.”
Currently, the Wine Time site lists events at the major wine stores and casinos, as well as information on the major charity tastings. But Green and Farmer said they’re eager to expand the listings, and they encourage anyone presenting tastings or other wine activities to submit their event details..
Wineosaurus.com, which is updated about three times a week, takes its name from the fact that, “we’re two old dinosaurs who love to drink wine,” Green said. (He is 65; Farmer is 61.)
Still, age doesn’t seem to have stopped the men from keeping au courant. They attend wine events at least four nights a week, Green said, and they use Twitter, the social networking and microblogging service, to keep their bibulous band apprised of their tasting plans and whereabouts.
“We Twitter about 2 p.m. for that evening,” Green said. “People come up to us and say, ‘Hey, I saw the Twitter, and I decided to come and meet you.’ And then we all drink wine.”
In order to raise the profile of Wine Time Friends, Green and Farmer also have begun pouring for wineries at events like the Nevada Museum of Art fundraiser held in August at International Game Technology.
Up ahead for the partners: Expanding Wineosaurus.com’s presence locally and even regionally or nationally, more blogging about wine events (”We’re not endorsing or selling; we just write about what we liked,” Green said), and one day, the men hope, sufficient ads or wine gadget sales to make the Web site a paying proposition.
“We believe the wine scene will only keep growing,” Green said. “We want to be there to let people know about it.”
Comments
TheButcherBoy wrote
What a couple of characters!! John and Cort are great guys that can fill your evening with entertaining stories. I hope the site catches on and brings business to the locals that could use it. Keep up the good fight!!
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