Another Twitter Taste Live event is upon us. Tune in right here at 8PM ET TONIGHT to catch the action LIVE.
This time, the topic is near and dear to my heart, as it involves The 89 Project, of which I am a contributing member. We will be tasting, live, selections of wines that have been rated "89 points" - blind. Things should get very interesting during this TTL!
Anyway, the action will be available live right here at this post (a recap. will also be available here after the event)...
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Hope to see you on twitter!
Cheers! (image: twittertastelive.com)
Showing posts with label twitter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label twitter. Show all posts
Twitter Taste Live: The 89 Project - TONIGHT 8PM ET!
A Local Wine Menage-a-Trois Soiree via Twitter
This exciting edition (is there any other kind?) of Tales of the Purple Monkey has Plumboo (that's the monkey) and me taking on one wine, but in three slightly (but importantly) different ways.
Last week, I participated in several Twitter Taste Live events, one of them being co-hosted by BinEndsWine.com and DrVino.com titled "Drink Local!" in which we reviewed local (to the reviewers., that is) wines. My previous post on the event has more background detail (and a recap of the twitter conversations).
Because I'm a homer, and I'm lazy, I decided to kill two birds with one stone. I reviewed Penns Woods' 2004 Ameritage Reserve (a Bordeaux style red blend), but with a twist - I presented the wine in three different "formats":
- Poured directly from the bottle
- Decanted 3+ hours before serving
- "Decanted" directly from the bottle using a wine gadget called the Wine Soiree.
Anyway, according to the Wine Soiree website and promotional materials, it is supposed to function somewhat like a decanter, using the principle of aeration. Wine contains many volatile chemicals that impart aroma, flavor, and also help to integrate a wine's components so that it tastes better. Exposing those volatile components to air starts the process. This is one reason why decanting hefty red wines for a time before drinking them helps to make the wine more accessible and softer.I poured all of my "versions" of the Penns Woods Ameritage into identical ISO tasting glasses (because I'm a nerd and I do own those, thank you very much) and had a go at each in comparison.
The result? Check out the following excerpt from my twitter feed during the Twitter Taste Live event:
10:41 |  1winedude: #ttl Yo yo YO! I'm tasting 2004 Penns Woods Ameritage Reserve. Cab, Merlot, Cab Franc, Sangiovese, & whatever other reds the winemaker (Gino Razzi) wants |
10:42 | 1winedude: #ttl From the Brandywine valley of SE PA |
10:42 | 1winedude: #ttl I did a little experiment. I have 3 glasses of the same wine, but each is different... |
10:43 | 1winedude: #ttl #1 was poured directly from the bottle. #2 was decanted 3+ hrs. #3 was poured using that in-bottle Soiree decanter thing-y |
10:44 | 1winedude: #ttl #1 direct from the bottle: smoke (a LOT of it); cedar; black currants; a little rough around the edges on the tannins; good finish |
10:44 | 1winedude: #ttl According to Mrs. Dudette: "It's like licking a chimney there's so much smoke! But in a good way." |
10:45 | 1winedude: #ttl #2 decanted 3+ hrs: MUCH smoother, with more dark cherry; the oak is more integrated and the finish seems to go forever... |
10:46 | 1winedude: #ttl I might be still tasting this finish tomorrow when I brush my teeth in the morning!!! |
10:47 | 1winedude: #ttl #3 'decanted' via the soiree: has the currant & cedar elements of #1, but not as integrated as #2; finish is la bit onger than #1 |
10:48 | 1winedude: #ttl This Soiree does something... and it seems good to aerate a wine in a pinch or when a decanter is not available. |
10:48 | 1winedude: #ttl but it ain't quite like decanting! |
10:50 | 1winedude: #ttl As for the wine itself - very good, not his best vintage tho. The 2005 has more promise; 2002 is... well... freakin' sublime! |
10:51 | 1winedude: #ttl This 04 is a bit too expensive for what it is, but it's a very, very well made Bord'x style blend. And YES it is from PA! |
10:53 | 1winedude: #ttl So in summary: Penns Woods make a kick-ass wine, and the Soiree does actually do... something; but not as much something as a decanter |
As it turns out, the Soiree does indeed seem to aerate the wine... somewhat. For me, the Soiree doesn't compare to actual decanting, which in this experiment I found to be far superior. Still, I think the Soiree could work in a pinch if you are desperate to decant and/or to take the edge off of a serious red, but can't wait for proper decanting (winery tasting rooms come to mind).
It you can get past the sight of a Christmas tree ornament sitting on top of your wine bottle, that is.
Cheers!
(images: 1WineDude.com, drvino.com)
Twitter Taste Live: Drink Charitably! TONIGHT 8PM ET
Hey folks - a reminder for you that Twitter Taste Live is happening again tonight at 8PM ET.
This round will be for charity, as we will be drinking and reviewing the wines of Humanitas! (details available here).
Hope to see you online at twitter (you can also follow along with the action live below, and/or come back to this post for a recap after the event)...
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Cheers!
1WD @ WLTV & TTL (Have Acronym, Will Drink!)
What, too many acronyms for ya? WTF!??
I wanted to send a big THANK YOU out to Gary V. for mentioning me & 1WineDude.com on a recent episode of Wine Library TV. Thanks, bro!
I also want to send out a big CONGRATS to the fine guys over at Volta wine, whose wine Gary reviewed on the same episode. As frequent 1WD readers will recall, 1WD was the first ever media review of Volta's inaugural wine. Good guys, really, really good wine, and a fantastic start for such a newcomer on the wine scene. I'm personally very glad to see Volta tearing it up and getting stellar reviews, and I'm looking forward to watching how their wines progress in the years to come (and hoping that they keep sending me some of the Howell Mountain goodness!)...
Click below to watch Gary's show in its entirety:
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The other way-cool thing going on this week is that we have two - count 'em, two - Twitter Taste Live wine tasting events going on before the end of the week!
The first of these is being hosted by the venerable Dr. Vino (Tyler Colman). The theme is "Drink Local!" and is a response by Tyler to the annual release of Beaujolais Nouveau (which can be sort of like the Bud Light of wine). I will be drinking (surprise!) the local Penns Woods 2004 Ameritage red blend for the event.
This TTL kicks off TONIGHT at 8PM ET. You can check back here on this post to follow the action live below, and also to get a recap of the event. Details on how you can participate can be found on TwitterTasteLive.com.
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And finally -don't forget that tomorrow night at 8PM ET, there is yet another TTL event - this time we will be tasting wine for charity, sampling the vino from Humanitas. Check out more about the story behind Humanitas at their website.
I will be posting tomorrow so that you can follow along live, or, if unlike me you have a life on Friday nights, you will be able to catch a recap of the twitter-ing (that probably isn't a word, is it?).
Cheers!
Wine 1.7rc3 (Why Wine 2.0 Isn't Quite There... Yet)
Web 2.0 - the two-fer, el internet dos, the big web deuce.
You understand it totally, right?
Me neither! Good - that means we can embark on this here post together without any pretense... you know, we don't have to pretend like we work at the Apple Store Genius bar.
Anyway, my interpretation of Web 2.0 can be summed up in one phrase: the architecture of participation. 200% clear, right?
Yeah, I still don't get it, either. Put another way, Web 2.0 is the moniker given to the fact that the Internet is no longer a place where people consume information. Instead, those people now expect to help create that information, to be connected in new and interesting (and instant!) ways, and to have their voices heard - by each other, and by the companies whose products they consume. According to Wikipedia, Web 2.o websites "may have an 'Architecture of participation' that encourages users to add value to the application as they use it."
OK, now that makes more sense.
So what does this have to do with wine? Man, I've been asking myself that question for the past 5 or 6 days, ever since I got back from the Wine 2.0 expo held last week in New York City.
Just like Web 2.0, the term Wine 2.0 has taken on several meanings. Dude's interpretation (and this could way, way wrong) is that Wine 2.0 is supposed to describe how the web is putting more power into the hands of wine consumers; i.e., it's the nexus of wine, Internet technology, and the wine lovers.
After attending the Wine 2.0 expo, I'm not sure that the Wine 2.0 movement is quite ready for prime time. It's on the right track, but it's more like Wine 1.7 rc 3 - you know, the interim bug-fixes release that is a teaser for the the really cool functionality you're expecting in the next version. Allow me to explain...
I'm not saying that the Wine 2.0 event wasn't a blast (it was), or that the organizers, vendors, and attendees weren't great peeps (they were), or that the venue wasn't cool (it was; despite the fact that they couldn't provide us with extension cords... at a technology event... oh, the irony...).
What I am saying is that for an event that showcases the nexus of wine consumers, wine vendors, and the tech that brings them together, there were a lot of wine consumers, tasting a lot of wine vendor products. There just wasn't a lot of tech bringing them both together.
Like, for example, extension cords (sorry, couldn't resist).
Of course, I do realize (and was repeatedly reminded during the evening) that wine producers are fundamentally farmers, and theirs is not usually the realm of Internet-based tech. BUT... I expected a more substantial showing anyway (call me a dreamer...).
Having said that, things in Wine 2.0 land are far from dire. There was some interesting tech going on at Wine 2.0 NYC - there just wasn't as much of it as I thought there would - or should - be.
Now, I'm about to tell you about two interesting pieces of wine-related tech that were on full display at Wine 2.0 NYC. I happen to be associated in some way/shape/form with both of them. BUT... before you write my next few paragraphs off as naive, starry-eyed manipulated commentary, both of these items happened to be mentioned by C|net - who, I sincerely hope, knows a bit more about what's interesting in the world of tech than I do. Don't take my word for it - check out the C|net video coverage for yourself. So I couodl be biased, or I could just be way ahead of my time (yes, I do feel vindicated actually, thank-you-very-much):
So there you have it. Not all great, but not all bad. The future will no doubt be interesting, primarily because the people that are making it interesting have no idea yet what they will do with the interesting stuff. Sounds like true innovation to me.
Sort of.
I just hope that wherever they are going, they bring along enough extension cords.
Cheers!
(images: ebaumsworld.com, cnet.com, winetwo.net)
BinEndsWine.com Twitter Tasting #3 - Sept. 18 Live with Michel-Schlumberger
What's it like to "taste" wine live, online?
The concept sounds totally geeky, but it turns out that it kicks all kinds of ass.
For a few months running (since its inaugural run), I've been taking part in the Twitter Tasting Live event hosted by BinEndsWine.com. In summary:
- You buy a sample pack from BinEndsWine.com, they ship said wine to you
- You sign up at twittertastelive.com
- On the 3rd Thursday of that month, you log into twitter.com and taste live along with participating wine bloggers & wine lovers from all over the world, and the BinEndsWine.com staff, usually joined by a winemaker associated with that month's sample pack of wines.
The real kick-ass portion is that it takes the social connection that wine gives us when we drink it together, and extends it instantly across cultural and geographical boundaries.
For a wine geek like me, it's a blast to see the jokes, comments, tasting notes, and questions coming from different personalities (some on different continents) tasting the same wine that I am having at the exact same time. We don't always agree, but the wine does help us connect - amicably. Couple that with what I'm doing locally (hosting a wine tasting dinner party centering around the same wines), and I'm in 7th wine heaven.
Now, here's what's up for the next Live twitter tasting happening on Sept. 18...
I will be joining the BinEndsWine.com staff LIVE at Wine 2.0 in NYC at 7PM ET.I'll be at the BEW booth, drinking their wine, blogging about the event via twitter, stealing BEW's water, and maybe making them bring me wine crackers! Or something like that. BEW will also have staff from CA wine producer Michel-Schlumberger on tap LIVE, to answer questions about his wines (which are this month's focus for the tasting).
The event is being co-hosted by Wannabe Wino; you can also check out BinEndsWine.com for more details.
After the dust settles on the twitter live tasting events, I usually also provide more focused reviews of some of the wines from the event on my twitter wine "mini" reviews feed (please note this is NOT the twitter feed I use during the live tastings!). Below are a my "mini" reviews for a few of the wines included in the last twitter live tasting of Hugel's Alsace wines:
Hope to "see" you on-line and LIVE at the next tasting - friend me up beforehand and let me know if you're joining in.
Cheers!
1WineDude Broadcasts Live! Plus - Twitter Tasting Giveaway Winners!
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The next superfunkadelic and ultra-exciting twitter LIVE Tasting Event is nigh upon us!On Thursday at 7PM ET, I and my cadre of Philly-area wine geeks (henceforth to be called the 1WDP - or 1WineDude Posse) will be tasting what looks to be some stellar wines from Alsace stalwart Hugel & Fils, LIVE via twitter. Hit up BinEndsWine.com for the details on how YOU can join up for this event!
What's more, the 1WDP will also be video broadcasting the event LIVE, so you will get to see things like a) just how smarmy my wine geek friends are, b) how short I really am, c) what my kitchen looks like, complete with the way cool Wire Chicken, d) how I look and fail at typing as I get progressively more and more inebriated!
To witness the madness, just come back to this post and view the embedded video herein. If you dare!
UPDATE: If you are joining us for the tasting event, head over to this link and register your bad self so everyone else participating follows you on twitter!
Speaking of the twitter tasting event, last week I hosted a giveaway for anyone leaving a comment to suggest what food to serve with all of that great Alsace wine during the twitter tasting event. Thanks to all those who participated - I also want to commend you for suggesting so many dishes that made me drool but have an almost negative chance of my wife cooking them (e.g., pork bellies). You can check out the stellar suggestions here.
With the help of my dog (don't ask), I randomly selected two winners from those who submitted comments... and there are...
First Prize (1WD T-shirt): Bradley Cooper!
Second Prize (1WD eBoook): Bloviatrix!
Congrats! I will be contacting each of you to deliver the goods.
See you (or, rather, you may see me) on Thursday!
Cheers!
(images: newsday.com)
Win Free Wine Gear (Prep. for Twitter Tasting Live #2)!
In preparation for the upcoming Twitter Tasting Live Event (hosted by Winecast & BinEndsWine.com) on August 21st, I'm giving away FREE 1WineDude.com gear!
This round of the live twitter wine tasting will focus on the fabulous Alsace wines of Hugel & Fils. Mrs. Dudette and I will (once again) be hosting a group of local wine geeks and industry folk to taste the wines - while yours truly captures the (increasingly inebriated) tasting comments from our panel via my twitter account.
Of course, we want all of you folks to join in on this fun as well and taste along with us, and the rest of the twitter live participants (twitipants?). Check out BinEndsWine.com for details on how to join up.
I may also be streaming the (increasingly inebriated) 1WineDude group commentary via my Yahoo! Live channel!
Anyway, help me out and YOU could soon be wearing a Men's "Wine Rules!" T-shirt, or a Women's "1WineDude.com" cap sleeve T-shirt! Or be reading through the cool tips & tricks of wine tasting in my eBook!
All you have to do is help me & Mrs. Dudette prepare for the twitter tasting. Easy peasy nice an' squeezy!...
Here's the skinny:
Nothing to it.
First Prize: A 1WineDude.com T (as described above)!
Second Prize: A free copy of the 1WineDude.com Wine Tasting Guide!
So get cookin' already!
Cheers!
(images: allposters.com, cafepress.com)
BinEndsWine.com Spanish Wine Tasting Wrap-Up
The BinEndsWine.com twitter live Spanish wine tasting event turned out to be quite a lot of fun. Hopefully some of you got to follow along on-line!
Never mind that my party messed up the order of the whites - it doesn't change anything that we 'tweeted' but it did probably confuse a few people in twitter-land. We were too buzzed to care, though...
I had originally hoped to include commentary directly from the twitter submissions, but there were just too many responses to be able to do this. So instead I thought I concentrate on what I (and my tasting partners-in-crime - Sugendran from WCDish.com & Heather Wright from Cellar Door Imports) thought to be the best wines of the night:
- Best White: Pazo de Senorans Albarino 2007 - Take a grapefruit, stuff it with peach, soak it in alcohol, and sprinkle almond on top. Viola, you've got Pazo de Senorans Albarino 2007! This wine is absolutely killer, and the finish will kick your butt with tasty citrus for several minutes.
- Best Red: Bodegas Mustiguillo "Mestizajes" 2005 - Heck of a lot of acidity for a red. It's all Southern Rhone on the nose, but without the mousy-ness. It's partially tank aged, with some of the wine seeing French oak barrels. Any way you slice it, the red fruits are balanced so well that this wine is a total steal for the $15 price tag.
Cheers!
Last Call: Tonight's BinEndsWine.com twitter Tasting Event!
Alright folks - here's the last update from me pestering you about joining the twitter tasting event tonight (I promise)! Next time I touch on this topic will be to deliver the wrap up...
If you're not keen to join up on twitter, you can still follow along with tonight's tasting by following the action via search.twitter at http://search.twitter.com/search?q=1winedude. It will look something like this:
The sequence of vino events will be as follows:
Pazo de Senorans Albarino 2007 7:15pm
Rafael Palacios Louro do Bolo Godello 2006 7:25pm
Burgans Bierzo "Cuatros Pasos" 2005 7:35pm
Bodegas Mustiguillo "Mestizajes" 2005 7:45pm
Cheers!
Come Taste With Me (Sort Of)!
Come taste with me tomorrow! Me, and maybe several dozen of my closest virtual friends, that is!
I'll be taking part in the next BinEndsWine.com live tasting event tomorrow at 7PM ET. The event is taking place via twitter, which you can follow by friending me up at twitter.com/1WineDude. Check out my previous post for more details.
Joining me in-person will be Mary & Sugendran from WCDish.com, along with Heather Wright from Cellar Door Imports.
I've never tasted the wines before, and to the best of my knowledge niether have my guests. Since the vino we're sampling are six picks from Spain, this will also be the unofficial start of the 1WineDude.com Spanish Caravan!
I've also never participated in a twitter live tasting event before. I think it's supposed to be wine tasting via technology, but I think it may end up being more like wine tasting VS. technology (considering that I'm doing this from my house, I don't plan on doing much spitting). My money's on the booze, but you'll need to tune into twitter.com/1WineDude to see just how silly it gets.
Hope to see you on-line.
Cheers!
Teikoku Tasting Wrap-Up & Azie / BinEndsWine.com Live Tasting Event!
I recently had the pleasure of attending a wine/plate pairing at the fabulous Teikoku restaurant in PA. The food, as always, was stellar (I suppose that's par for the course for anything prepared by Iron Chef Takao Iinuma).
The wines (selected and poured by wine educator, Matthew Esser from Shiffrin Selections and wine educator and consultant, Heather Wright from Cellar Door Imports, both personal friends) were fine examples of vino that matches up perfectly with summer fare. My 'mini-reviews' of the wines are below - I recommend any of these if you're looking for great summer wines that won't break the bank:
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Next up, I've got two more tasting events that I should probably be plugging so here goes...:
1) There's a Sake Tasting taking event tomorrow (July 15) on the deck at Azie's in Media, PA. I don't know much about sake so this is going to be one of my inaugural (a.k.a trial-by-fire) journeys into the heart of all things sake. 6:30-8:30PM, $30 per person. The menu:Kumamoto Oysters & Harushika Tokimeki Sparkling
Gobuo Quick Fry & Bishonen "Beautiful Boy" Ginjo
Sushi "Big Eye" tuna, hamachi and bass & Ohyama "Big Mountain" Junmai
Gobuo Quick Fry & Bishonen "Beautiful Boy" Ginjo
Sushi "Big Eye" tuna, hamachi and bass & Ohyama "Big Mountain" Junmai
Pork belly "Kakuni" stew &Taiheizan Tenko Daiginjo
Bonus!
2) BinEndsWine.com will be holding their monthly "twitter taste live" on July 17 at 7PM ET. This month's installment will feature Spanish wines selected by European Cellars' Solomon. Eric will join Ryan & Gabriella Opaz of Catavino.net live via twitter.com to taste and discuss the wines. Also taking part via twitter.com will be yours truly. Here's the skinny on how to follow the action on twitter.com:- Get an account on twitter (as if a cool person like you didn't have one already!).
- Follow BinEndsWine's twitter feed.
- Follow my twitter feed.
- Login at 7PM ET on the 17th and enjoy the ride!
- Pazo de Monterrey Monterrei 2006
- Pazo de Senorans Albarino 2007
- Rafael Palacios Louro do Bolo Godello 2006
- Burgans Bierzo "Cuatros Pasos" 2005
- Bodegas Mustiguillo "Mestizajes" 2005
- Castano Yecla "Solanera" 2005
Hope to see you on twitter!
Cheers!
More Moore Wine Reviews
Well, after nearly two months, I've (finally) finished off my sample case from the fabulous Moore Bros. As for why it took me so long to review these - hey, there's a lot of wine to be had out there!
As promised in a previous post, I've recorded my thoughts on each wine in my Wine Mini-Reviews, available on twitter.
Below you will find the detail (such as it is on twitter, with its 140 character limit) on each wine. In summary, Mr. McDuff and friends certainly know their stuff; I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the majority of the wines in the sample case, especially when you contrast that with their relatively low price points.
My favs? France did well with the Dude this time around, as both of my favorite picks from this batch were French:
- In the whites, I loved the `06 Touraine Sauvignon La Pointe from Domaine Ricard.
- Among the reds, the `05 Le Premier Pas Domaine Le Pas de l'Escalette came out on top for me.
 | 1WineDudeReview `04 Ch. Bellevue (Fronsac): Progressing nicely. Soft for Bord'x, & approachable. Aroma is promising, palate doesn't quite live up to it. |
| | 1WineDudeReview `06 Emrich-Schonleber Monzinger Riesling QbA trocken (Nahe): Minerals galore but low on florals. Think my bottle was flawed though. |
| | 1WineDudeReview `05 Ch. les Fromenteaux Muscadet de Sevre-et-Maine Clos du Poyet (Loire, Fr): Minerals. Fruit. Body. Nice - but not quite harmonious. |
| | 1WineDudeReview `04 Corzano e Paterno Chianti (Colli Fiorentini, It): It's what's on *top* of the fruit - orange & spice - that makes it special. Decant it. |
| | 1WineDudeReview `06 Corte Gardoni (Custoza, Italy): Fruity, austere, with a tiny bit of spice & nut. Who knew Garganega could be so bold? Killer with salad. |
| | 1WineDudeReview `06 Domaine Georges Trichard Chenas (Beaujolais, Fr): Candied cherry, plum & flowers. But it's got some heft as well & could age. Fine stuff. |
| | 1WineDudeReview `06 Brunori Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi "Le Gemme": Nutty, pleasing acidity & Chardonnay-esque fruit. I'm startin to like this producer! |
| | 1WineDudeReview `05 Rosso Piceno Tourquis Brunori (Marche, It): Classic Sangiovese nose, & the Montepulciano provides a little kick. Could get used to this! |
| | 1WineDudeReview `04 Domaine André Bonhomme Viré-Clessé (Burgundy): Apricot & oak. Like meeting a bourgeoisie madam in a proletariat nightspot. Classy. |
| | 1WineDudeReview '06 Lorenzino Ettore Germano Dolcetto d'Alba (Italy): Cherries & tobacco in great balance. Nice, but I prefer Dolcetto to be a bit livelier. |
| | 1WineDudeReview `05 Le Premier Pas Domaine Le Pas de l'Escalette (Cot. du Languedoc): Harmonious blend of S. Rhone grapes. French red without the shackles. |
| | 1WineDudeReview `06 Touraine Sauvignon La Pointe Domaine Ricard: A pink grapefruit grenade hurled from the heart of the Loire at your nose. Very good SB. |
Cheers!
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