I like BlogEngine.Net. I really do. This blog runs on it. But I have decided to pursue my wine blog on Blogger. The reason is basic and simple. I want to use Google's Adsense on my wine blog, Vino HAG. Maybe one day I will be one those people that will have such a huge following that all I need to do to pay my bills is blog. That would be almost as good as playing golf for a living.

You would think that BlogEngine would make adding Adsense to the blog easy, but to date, I have not been able to make it work. I am using version 1.3.1 and they are currently on version 1.4. Frankly, I am tired of trying to get it to work. I know for a fact, that by the time I might be able to figure it out, I could have already had my wine blog up and running with Blogger and Google's Adsense and Analytics. As a matter of fact, that is exactly what I did.

So why did I ever use BlogEngine.Net in the first place? Hmmm... a few reasons. It looked really slick and I'm a programmer (.Net) by profession, it was free, runs on .Net, and fairly easy to set up and get rolling. It was actually fun learning the things BlogEngine.Net could do too. Since it is open source, many people had made add ons like the Slide Show extension. Someone actually made an Adsense extension too, but alas, I could never get it to work.

Anyway, if you like wine and get a chance, check out Vino HAG.

The Houston Cellar Classic 2007 hosted by the Tasting Room (in Uptown, they have many locations) was freaking awesome. I volunteered for the event and didn't really know exactly what to expect but I knew it would be a great experience and hella fun. I was not let down. Everyone I met was nice and anyone that worked for the Tasting Room was very appreciative of the volunteers. I met a lot of very cool people including Dana, Christian, Amelia, Christina, Quinn, Alberto, Paula, Richard, Rolando, Catherine and Lori.

After I finished my shift in the Retail Room I got to go around and do the wine/food tasting. I tasted many wines, I think over 15 of them. My favorites were the St. Supery Elu and the Inwood Estates Cornelious (a Texas winery... I was shocked). The food was absolutely fabulous too. Max's Wine Dive, Shade, Glass Wall, Olivette and many more restaurants were there feeding the masses. Olivette served a mini chocolate ginger muffin and I think the dab of frosting on top was a cream cheese frosting along with a slice of candied ginger. WOW!

In addition to all that, I was in the VIP room and tasted a 1998 Chateax Margaux ($400), 1998 Veuve Clicquot la Grand Dame ($170), MV Krug Grande Cuvee ($170), 2002 Silver Oak Napa Cabernet ($100), and the 2003 Coppola Rubicon ($130). AMAZING!!!

Anyway, it was a blast and I look forward to volunteering for more events!  I also took my camera and snapped a few shots when I could. Check them out here: http://picasaweb.google.com/hgreerii/HoustonCellarClassic2007