While I consider myself to be an ethical person, the ethics of my role in public relations at the wine importer for which I work, never occurred to me. At least not until it hit me head on.

One of my first tasks required that I send out a save-the-date to a pre-selected list of press members — some of whom are also members of the Wine Media Guild. Upon its receipt, I received an e-mail from one of the WMG’s officers who expressed some concern about my newly bestowed membership and my status as a public relations agent. I think I quelled the inquirer’s fears with my explanation, but it did underscore the ethical issues involved, many of which I had not considered prior to taking on this new job.

On a public level, I am keeping the name of my employers mum, although I have admittedly told a few people one on one. And, of course, some people know by virtue of having received the invitation mentioned above.

But, more importantly, I think that my actions as a wine writer need to be considered carefully in the months ahead, especially regarding the wines I discuss. I generally don’t do wine ratings on this blog, but I do write about and recommend wines through my monthly newsletter. Accordingly, I plan to avoid including wine recommendations from my present employer’s portfolio for the period during my employment. I don’t feel that writing about an event I attend under the auspices of my employment is unethical, as long as I am clear and upfront about that fact and the stated purpose of the event. Perhaps others disagree?

As a wine writer and journalist, I endeavor to be fair and open-minded in my writing and reporting and thus, the notion that I might engage in unethical behavior is anathema to me. To that end, I will be more alert to the possibilities of unethical behavior in an effort to avoid any such inappropriateness. However, I am confident that I can be objective in my writing despite my temporary PR position and hope that my colleagues will share that confidence.