Get to Know Eric Orange, Founder of Local Wine Events.com

Look to the right of this article. Hopefully, you noticed the list of my favorite wine websites. Among that list is Localwineevents.com, a site I've been telling friends about for years. It's a wonderful resource where you can find food and wine events as well as wine educators in your country, your state and your town. This past Thursday, I had the opportunity to speak with the founder of Local Wine Events, Eric Orange.

Eric grew up in Wichita, Kansas and after a stint in the Navy, he started working for a wine distributor in Colorado. That led to a position with WineShopper.com, a start-up that had $35 Million dollars in funding from Amazon.com, but "failed miserably" according to Eric. However, from that experience, Eric came up with the idea for Local Wine Events and on July 1, 2000, he launched the site. The restaurant industry drove its initial success, but it has gained a large following over the past 10 years and now boasts 130,000 subscribers and a widely read e-newsletter called "The Juice."

For those who have never used the site, it's a great tool for finding all sorts of food and beverage events in your town and neighboring towns. You'll see listings for wine dinners, beer making courses, chocolate tastings, cheese classes, coffee events and pretty much any type of food or gourmet gathering you can imagine.

As good as the site is now, Eric keeps working to improve it. He will be adding geo location software and utilizing newer display and pop-up technology. Additionally, he hopes to expand the listing of non-wine food and beverage events.

So if you're looking for a great wine resource or just something to do on a Tuesday night, check out Local Wine Events. And keep your eyes out for their ongoing improvements. Personally, I think the site is already excellent, but I appreciate Eric's passion for continuous improvement.

Until the next sniff, sip or quaff,

Cheers,

Alli M.