Voting Begins for the American Wine Blog Awards

Tom Wark at Fermentation has announced the finalists for the 2007 American Wine Blog Awards, the first awards dedicated to wine bloggers (as distinct from food and drink bloggers). There are lots of familiar names in the categories, but also some that you might not know yet so take some time to do a fair evaluation of all the finalists before voting. Click on the logo to the left to be taken to the survey. You can only vote once, thank God--none of that crazy vote once a day nuttiness--so take your time and think about it. Not sure when the voting stops, but if I find out I'll let you know. Update: voting ends Friday, February 16.

All these dedicated writers deserve major kudos for their efforts to enlighten, educate, and entertain readers like you and me on subjects as varied as appellations and wine shipping laws. But I'd like to give some special recognition to friends of Good Wine Under $20, bloggers who regularly stop by here to leave comments or who have supported my newbie efforts, and who rose to the top of the judges' lists. So in your travels through cyberspace, be sure to check out the blogs of:

Mary Baker at Dover Canyon Winery (finalist in Best Winery Blog)
Jerry Hall at WineWaves (finalist in both Best Wine Blog Graphics and Best Wine Reviewing)
Joel at Vivi's Wine Journal (finalist in Best Wine Blog Graphics)
John G. at Quaffability (finalist in Best Wine Reviewing)
Craig Camp at WineCamp Blog (finalist in Best Wine Writing)
Tyler Colman at Dr. Vino (finalist in Best Wine Blog Writing and Best Overall Wine Blog)

This is a great chance for those of us who read and learn from bloggers to make a point about the power of the medium and the quality of what is produced by the very best among us. Thanks once again to Tom Wark for conceiving of the awards, and handling the process so impeccably and promptly.