"Crushing It" with Gary Vaynerchuck!
Ken and Larry with Gary Vaynerchuck at the Wine Outlet "Crush It" book signing event in Seattle, WA
Larry and the one and only Seattle Wine Gal
Larry and the one and only Seattle Wine Gal at the Taste of Washington "after party" at Purple in Seattle.
2008 Auction of Washington Wines
Larry & Ken with Carol Munro - Director of AWW - at the Gala Auction Event where over $2 million was raised for Children's Hospital
Auction of Washington wines Group Shot
Ken & Larry with Greg Lill, CEO of DeLille Cellars; Carol Munro, Executive Director of the Auction of Washington Wines; and Eve (Mercado) Kopp, Director, Corporate Annual Giving of Seattle Children's.
37 Cellars Plain Washington
Ken horsing around with winemaker, Chuck Egner, and western singer, Dave Stamey at the 37 Cellars Western concert.
37 Cellars western concert event.
Ken at the 37 Cellars Western concert with Horse Crazy cowgirl band.
2009 Icicle Ridge "Jazzmatazz" Concert
Ken, behind a camera - as usual - 2009 at the Icicle Ridge "Jazzmatazz" Concert
Larry at 2009 Icicle Ridge "Jazzmatazz" Concert
Larry with Kristen Wood and Icicle Ridge Winery founder Louie Wagoner.
Tsillan Cellars Winery 2009 Summer Concert
Larry with Bob Jankelson Tsillan Cellars Winery Owner at the 2009 summer concert with the Paperboys!
About Us
We are Ken Trimpe and Larry Cramer we're friends and business colleagues, we also share a common passion... wine. Not so much just the wine itself, but everything about wine, the wine culture. We have been involved in the business side of wine for some time now and have become friends with many of the great people and interesting personalities in the wine industry. We really enjoy the fun and experiences this brings. This blog is our chance to share these wonderful people and experiences with you!
What does it cost? Nothing, zip, nada! We do ask that you comp up tickets for entry, but that's it.
Ken Trimpe:
After working for large advertising agencies in Chicago, including Leo Burnett and J. Walter Thompson, and freezing in the winter, my wife Susan and I decided it was time to move to the west coast and raise a family. So we moved to Seattle where I worked as a creative director for an ad agency, and then went out on my own, working mostly for the Washington apple industry.
In the mid 80's we got together with a group of our friends and started biking through wine country every Labor Day weekend, meeting winemakers and tasting wine, and falling in love with the Washington wine industry.
In the late 80's I was asked to be on the steering committee for the newly formed Auction of Washington Wines to benefit Children's Hospital and Medical Center (now Seattle Children's). 23 years later I'm still on the committee and meeting more and more fascinating wine people, and watching the industry continue to boom. Now I'm a partner in Vine Vertical specializing in marketing, web development, design and photography (another passion of mine) for the wine industry.
My wife and I have two beautiful daughters (all grown up) an enjoy living in the great Northwest — hiking, biking, kayaking, climbing, and generally just enjoying the heck out of everything this part of the country has to offer — not a bad life.
Larry Cramer: 
On the professional side, I've been in advertising, marketing, and design for over 25 years. For the last 10 years I've been focused primarily on the web. I am the CEO and founder of Application Dynamics Inc. a web development and consulting company and Cartweaver.com, an ecommerce software company.
I've been an Adobe Community Professional (previously Team Macromedia) for eight years, I'm an instructor, author and speak at web development conferences around the country.
I would say I'm a "geek" that knows the influence the web and Social Media has on marketing, design, and communications.
When I'm not in front of the computer working or consulting with clients on Internet Marketing, you'll find me and my wife of 30+ years touring the great Pacific Northwest on our motorcycle, enjoying a good glass of wine with friends or at one of the many wine events you'll find posted here on this blog, and occasionally I'll do a little boating and attempt to catch a Bass or two. Bass goes very well with a good Sauvignon Blanc you know.
I have three grown children that actually seem to like me and a grandson that thinks I'm great... Does it get any better than that?
Vine Vertical
Having known each other for a number of years and working together on a number of projects in various industries we became friends and enjoyed working together. A few years ago life's twists and turns brought us to a point where we wanted to start something new. We both enjoyed wine, and loved the people and culture of wine. Ken had been involved with the Auction of Washington Wines since the very beginning over two decades ago. We both enjoyed wine and knew the wine industry. So why not focus on what we know and enjoy for a living? Made perfect sense to us... Vine Vertical was born!
