Sean P. Sullivan - Washington Wine Report Note: Site has moved to www.northwestwinereport.com

Reminder that December's Virtual Tasting is the 2007 Brian Carter Cellars Abracadabra and takes place on Monday December 21st. Read more about it here.

Palazzo Intercreative, a Seattle-based marketing firm, has teamed up with the Washington Wine Commission to launch what it is calling a “Unified Social Media Platform^TM” on the Commission’s website. The goal of the site is to increase information and awareness about Washington wine by promoting two-way communication with buyers, tourists, bloggers, and media.

The site aims to accomplish this goal in three main ways. The first is by providing video content on wineries, winemakers, vineyards, and growers. This content will be available both from winery websites as well as from the Commission’s website. The videos that Palazzo produces will also be posted on the Washington Restaurant Association’s website to provide exposure to restaurant owners, chefs, and sommeliers. (Last year, Palazzo supported the launch of a similar platform, “WRA-TV”, for the Washington Restaurant Association.)

The second way is by working with wine bloggers nationwide through a “virtual blogging tour” to promote awareness of Washington wines by connecting bloggers with wineries.

The third way the site aims to increase awareness is by providing written information (an electronic press kit) about the wineries beyond what is currently available on the Commission’s site.

The site is being launched this week, starting with the first five wineries Palazzo has been working with - L’Ecole No. 41, Lodmell Cellars, Maryhill Winery, Cave B Winery, and Wilridge Winery.

Pennie Pickering, Principal at Palazzo Intercreative, says “We developed this platform in response to requests we were getting from our clients to simplify and streamline their Social Media Marketing initiatives. We are very excited that the Wine Commission recognized the power of this idea and has allowed us to realize it for them.”

The site will be linked from the main Washington Wine Commission website page under the listing “Social.”