Fermenting at Crushpad with Wine 2.0
Last night Nicci and I attended the Wine 2.0 event at
Crushpad in SF that was all about “blending wine and technology. It seems like in every business and industry, technology is often the driving forces behind advancement and expansion.
This theory can also very easily be applied to the wine world. New sites like
TwitterTasteLive, Open Wine Consortium, and
DrinkthisTV take wine and the wine tasting experiences to a whole new level. How would you like to swirl and smell an Australian Shiraz while the winemaker, who is in Australia talks you through his favorite characteristics?
This is now possible with more and more wineries using sites like Skype and
Tokbox to give consumers the ultimate wine tasting experience.….. one which brings dull tasting notes to life in an international way.
While walking around the tasting before the big rush I was lucky enough to try out this virtual tasting experience with Lisa Mattson from Wilson Daniels. Hooked up through Tokbox with headphones I spoke with Grant Burge the winemaker and owner for
Grant Burge in Barossa Valley and together we tasted his 2006 Shiraz . My reaction? Everyone has got to try this!!! Tasting notes have now taken a 3 dimensional form. Not only was it an awesome experience to taste wine with a winemaker half way around the world, this platform opens up so many doors for wineries that can’t afford to fly their winemaker out for such an event, but customers still get the opportunity to interact with the producer, virtually. So I guess the question is how “new” is all this technology really? Well for wineries wanting to take advantage of these trends I would advise to start now because as we know technology advances quickly so what’s hot now might be considered passe in no time.
Tokbox Virtual Tasting
Having never been to Crushpad before but hearing and reading information about it I was impressed at it’s size for being located in SF. Approx 1,000 people attended the event, definitely a large amount of them were “millennials” , people in the trade and those in online social network channels. Recently the thought came to me that you can sort of compare meeting someone that you are friends with from a site like Facebook or Wine 2.0 for the first time in person to a blind date. You’ve seen their photo, maybe sent them a message or two with casual conversation but the in person meeting and face to face contact can be a little unpredictable. For me there is often that moment of confusion. Why do I recognize you? How do I know you? All of these questions pass through my brain and within a few seconds I must try my best to make the connection. Nonetheless it’s always nice to put a name to a face, and a profile.
Overalll the event was really fun, people showed a genuine interest in the wine and we even poured our inaugural vintage; the 2002 Pinot Noir which for a 7 year old wine is showing fabulously! So if you love wine, technology and social networking, think about joining Wine 2.0; fun events, nice people and good vino….what’s not to like?
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