I recently found a plugin for Wordpress that creates a great little integrated forum into your theme. The draw being that the writer can create a discussion with you, the reader. It allows them to know the people who read the blog, while creating a space to form friendships on both a personal and professional level.

In the case of our forum, our intention is to create a place to post questions or tasting notes. Most forums languish as people initially sign up, later realizing that they aren’t going to have time to post consistently. Well, fortunately, this forum is low maintenance and is really to be used for basic questions you may have about Iberian wine. And because we can’t drink every Iberian wine in the world, as much as we’d like to, we are turning to you to add tasting notes of your recent bottles, as well as the location where you purchased it. Hopefully, this will allow others to learn more about what Iberian wine is available near you.

Finally, at the bottom of the list of topics, I added a place for virtual tasting ideas. My thoughts are to pick an Iberian wine theme each month and then discuss that theme for a month at a time in the forums. For example, “Tempranillo’s from around the world”, or “Red Wines from Castilla y Leon”, sticking with broad topics so everyone can participate. We’ll take suggestions on a theme for April, choose whichever sounds like the most fun, and then announce the theme on Catavino towards the end of March. During the month of April, we’ll discuss what people find to taste and what people are learning about the theme. Hopefully it can be a nice learning tool, and something we can all learn a little bit from.

See you in the forums,

Ryan Opaz