DC Sip and Twit

Giramondo Wine Adventures hosted a "Sip and Twit" on Wednesday at the Whittemore House in DC. I was skeptical about the benefit that tweeting would add to the tasting event, and I am not sure my opinion changed much.




The way the event worked was pretty simple. To participate, you either had to sign up at the WineTwits website, or you could simply add the hashtag #sptwdc to your Tweets. They had a large monitor mounted to the wall to display Tweets as they happened (well, with a minor delay). You can see my shout out to Breaux Vineyards in the picture below. You can follow along along with the stream of tweets here to get a feel of what wines people liked and didn't like.

I think the concept has merit. In theory this type of testing would give people the opportunity to talk with each other about the wine. Instead of the person pouring the wine dictating what you should taste, a consensus could be developed amongst the crowd. To some extent it was successful, in the pictures below you can see people buried in their phones, tweeting.




I think where it starts to go wrong is with the prizes they were awarding for people who posted the most tweets during the event. When you do something like that, you wind up with too much chaff. If you read through the couple of hundred Tweets linked above, how many of them actually tell you about the wines? How many tell you something useful about what was good or bad? How many of them seem like padding to increase the user's chance of winning (including my own)?

I think one way this process could be improved is by inviting the producers/distributors who are there to open their own Twitter accounts. Again, take a look at the stream of tweets here, the ones that are probably the most useful are the ones that include the wine producer's handle (well, with the possible exception of this one :)).

If guests of the event had a way to easily tag which wine they thought "was dry, with hints of plum" or "tasted like feet" then I think the conversation becomes even easier. At the very least the wine producers who are there get immediate, and frankly invaluable, feedback on their wines.




On the other side of the equation, the wines presented were, generally, very good. I've already commented on the wines from Georgia, and will have more on that in a couple of days (they've graciously agreed to an interview).

Another standout was the wines from Solterra, they offered an excellent Carmenere. Like most Chilean wines, it is also a very good value at about $10.

Local boys Keswick and Horton were there. The newly released Keswick 2007 Heritage was excellent, as was the Horton Chocolate wine.

There were also several good wines from Sicily including a Grillo from Dinari del Duca and the House Jam Barnardo.

The Williams Corner table featured two really good wines the J. Mourat Collection and the Forlorn Hope Mil Amores.

Update: This is exactly, what I was talking about above. Forlorn Hope gathers some of the Twitter comments from the event on their blog.

Review: Horton Vineyards Nebbiolo

Wine: 2001 Horton Vineyards Nebbiolo



Review: The Horton Nebbiolo is actually a blend of 76% Nebbiolo, 10% Pinotage, 5% Tannat, 5% Petit Verdot, and 4% Touriga Nacional. The Petit Verdot adds some color to what is normally a very light wine, but the basic Nabbiolo characteristics remain. This is a light wine with aromas of cherry and raspberry. The aging has smoothed out nearly all of the tannins and left a nice wine, though one that is somewhat lacking in body.

Price: $20

Grade: 80

Wine: 2000 Horton Stonecastle



Review: Why is it that, despite the fact that Horton is a large operation with many great wines, their website is so ugly?

Fortunately, their wines are not. This is a very soft wine, it is a blend of 32% Mourvedre, 27% Carignan, 25% Syrah, 5% Tinta Cao, 5% Touriga Nacional, 3% Tannat, 1% Cabernet Franc, 1% Malbec, and 1% Nebbiolo. It has aged very well, producing a very complex wine with hints of cherry and plum. A very drinkable wine, which surprised me given the apparent kitchen sink method of adding varietals to this wine. I guess I should know by now not to underestimate Dennis Horton :).

Price: $12

Grade: 85

Wow, I blew that attempt at mass posting, huh?

The next day, we hit 4 wineries. The first winery was Afton Mountain Vineyards.





The winery was nice with a good-sized tasting room. Some of the highlights were the Sangiovese, the Old Vine Cabernet Sauvignon and the Cabernet Franc, which was not bad for an '05.

The next winery was Veritas. More than any other winery I have visited in Virginia this one reminded me of wineries in Sonoma. It is beautiful with a wrap-around deck and great open space for picnicing. The tasting room is huge with lots of great places to sit and enjoy a glass/bottle of wine after your tasting.





Highlights from Veritas were their Sauvignon Blanc and their Petit Verdot.

The third winery was Cardinal Point. The tasting room was smaller than the other two wineries, but but the staff was very knowledgable.





Highlights: Their Quattro, Cab Franc Reserve and the Rockfish Red.

Our last stop, before the wine dinner, was at Horton (have I mentioned how much I hate the design of their website). The grounds around Horton were not much. The tasting room is large, although, clearly set up to move people in and out, with very few places to sit.





Horton had 40+ wines to choose from, I liked their Viognier, many of their fruit wines, their Cabernet Franc, Stonecastle Red, Nebbiolo.

Overall, a fantastic day and a lot of fun.

I am going to Indiana to visit my friend Becky next weekend. While I am out there we are going to visit a couple of Indiana wineries. i thought as an exchange I would bring her a couple of Virginia wines. The first choice that springs to mind is a Cabernet Franc, but which one?

You all know I have been disappointed in the 2005 crop of Cabernet Francs. Fortunately for me, Horton's current release, which is amazing, is their 2000 vintage making it an easy choice.

In addition to a representative varietal I also want a bottle that shows off the talent of Virginia winemakers. For the second bottle I was thinking of Pearmund's Meritage or Tarara's Wild River Red.

Any other suggestions?