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Thursday September 2^nd is #Cabernet day on social media sites around the globe.  A popular question I keep getting is “how do I be a part of it?”  Here’s a few quick tidbits to give you the how and why of #Cabernet day:

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1. Use the #Cabernet Hash Tag in Your Posts:

Post tweets, videos, Facebook posts, blog posts and check-ins including the “#Cabernet” hash tag on sites like Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, Foursquare, Gowalla and others.  This is one half of the conversation.  You want to send out messages about Cabernet.  For wineries, this can be content about your vineyard, winemaker, terroir, recipes, etc..  For wine drinkers, this can be what you’re tasting or who you’re tasting it with.

2. Search the #Cabernet Hash Tag:

If sending posts with “#Cabernet” is the first half of the online conversation, tracking the hash tag is the other half.  It’s all about talking and listening, but using social tools to do it.  On Twitter you can use Tweetdeck, Twitter Search, Google, Twitterfall, Radian6, JIVE, etc to see what people are saying.

3. Engage!

Like Brian Solis says, Engage!  You have hundreds, maybe thousands of people talking about Cabernet.  Find people you want to connect with and engage with them.  “Like” Facebook posts, RT tweets, share or reply to other people’s postings.

You have a captive audience all tuned in to the same thing.  It’s an opportunity to form new connections online.

Why would you want to do this?  A large, captive audience will be talking about the same thing at the same time.  Technology allows us to find and connect with people we want to keep connected with going forward.

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• Who, What, Where, When Why of #Cabernet Day (stsupery.com/blog)
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Ever walk into a trendy restaurant where all the furniture looks futuristic and the decor is hipster, and notice how beautiful everyone is? You just feel like you’re hanging with the “it” crowd and that’s the place to be. Maybe it’s on the 26th floor of a new skyscraper in Manhattan or in downtown San Francisco where the founder of Twitter like to been seen.

Thistle is the complete opposite of that. The glassware and silverware look like they were purchased from a garage sale and the weathered wood floor creaks. Located in the heart of Oregon wine country, Thistle is the perfect anti-trendy place to eat.
When James Beard award-winning chef Eric Bechard and his equally qualified front-of-the-house wife/wine buyer Emily Howard opened Thistle, it was all about the good stuff.

I sat at the counter, which felt like sitting in my Grandma’s pantry. There were jars lining the wall and a tiny kitchen tucked in the corner.  There were all the things I remember about my Grandma’s kitchen, except my Grandma didn’t have a stellar wine list.

I loved Thistle.  Sitting at the bar was cool because I was able to chat with Chef Eric throughout the entire meal.  It was also cool because it was located in the heart of downtown McMinville, OR.  So many cool places are just steps away, including McMenamins Hotel Oregon.  Thistle was unpretentious and all about relaxing with a good meal.  How often do you get to chat with the chef during and after dinner?

sorry the light is low on this

If the food wasn’t impressive enough, the wine list was equally as impressive.  I liked that Thistle didn’t have Oregon wines only on the list.  Emily put together one of the most impressive wine lists I’ve seen in a long time.  There were esoteric wines from all over the world, and they were all high quality as well as well priced.  I took her suggestion and did a glass of wine with each course.  Here’s what I had:

First pairing: 2008 Auxerrois from Adelsheim, Ribbon Ridge with Chioggia Beets, Arugula, Chevre & orange

Second pairing: 2003 Alicante Bouschet from Esporao, Portugal with Flat Iron Steak w/ spicy Chimichurri, Potato and Brocoli

It was hard to pick from the menu because everything looked SO good.  Even the bread was good—fresh baked down the street.  You gotta love a restaurant that has the menu up on a blackboard that changes every day.  Each time you go into Thistle, you can expect a unique experience.

The whole time as I’m licking my chops, Chef Eric kept coming over and chatting with me about this, that or the other thing.  He talked about working in Seattle and how it is working with his wife in a new business.  Chef was rocking a faux hawk that day.  You kinda get the sense there’s no rules for employees at Thistle, other than good authentic food.

The beet salad stood up well to the Auxerrois without overpowering it.  Auxerrois is not much unlike Pinot Gris, so it has some similar notes, especially (in this case) wet rocks, mineral notes and asian pear.  I thought the acidity or tartness might be too much for the salad, but the beets and orange danced together nicely.

But what really blew my hair back was the beef with Chimichurri sauce.  I’ve made flank steak with Chimichurri a few times, and it was good.  But this one was completely different.  There was a tangy spiciness that lit up my taste buds like a pinball machine.  The steak was cooked perfectly, only to be perfected even more with the Portuguese red.  Seven years of age was perfect for the Alicante Bouschet grape. There was enough sweetness to offset the spicy flavors on the beef.

this might look like a turd but it was amazing

Thistle has been featured in national and regional publications with good reason.  Check out the Yelp reviews to see for yourself what patrons think of Thistle.  If you ever find yourself in Oregon wine country and want a wine and food experience that’s unpretentious and against the grain, Thistle is the place.  Cheers!

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Hard to believe how fast a year went by…  On August 1st of last year the Bakas family moved west to pursue a dream.

In the past twelve months I’ve had the privilege of meeting so many people across the country and share great wine.  Many of the people I’ve met are on this list you can 1-click follow on Twitter.

I’ve cooked up a deal for online friends to get the wine I’m going to celebrate with.  The newly released 2006 Napa Valley Merlot goes for $28/btl at the winery but on Thursday and Friday you can get it for about $16/btl including upgraded shipping!  Orders are in full cases (12 btls) only.

Here’s the link to get the Merlot Use coupon code ONE YEAR when checking out to get the FED EX priority overnight shipping included at no charge.  When the order is filled and it ships out, it’ll get to you the next morning.  Enjoy!

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Image via Wikipedia

On Thursday, May 6th wineries and wine drinkers will come together for 24 hours to taste and tweet about the Chardonnay grape.  If you are reading this, you are welcome to join in no matter where in the world you’re located.
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All you need is wine and Twitter.  RSVP here

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If you are interested in participating, here is how you do it:

1. Get a Twitter account

2. Get Tweetdeck or Seesmic

3. Create a search column or way to track all tweets that have “#Chardonnay” in them

4. Organize or attend a gathering at a winery, wine shop or residence (make twitter stream visible using something like Tweetdeck, Seesmic or Twitterfall)

5. Open Chardonnay – taste and tweet making sure to include “#Chardonnay” somewhere in your tweets

Wineries from previous virtual tastings have organized get togethers in their tasting rooms or at local venues.  For example, Cordair Gallery in Napa Valley opens their gallery up to all local wineries or tweets to bring a bottle and meet other tweeters in person while exchanging ideas or observations around each wine.  They also bring in local food vendor and even provide an massage therapist to help relax your fingers from all the tweeting

Photos from past community tastings on Twitter:

twitterfall.com displaying #wineblends tweets

tweetup at Vino100 in Fresno. the twitter stream isn

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I’m going out on the road and I need some dedicated wine drinkers to come help me drink some delicious wines.

Hard to believe how things unfolded over this summer.  On August 3rd, the Bakas family moved to Napa Valley so I could start my new role as Director of Social Media Marketing at St. Supéry winery.  The first 60 days have been a blast not only from talking wine and food all day, but also because #harvest09 was just beginning.
In October, I’ll be taking the winery tasting room experience on the road for the wine industry’s first ever Tweetup Tour. I’ll be stopping in each city listed below visiting restaurants and wine shops sharing the delicious nectar known as St. Supéry.   All are welcome as there is no charge to attend. St. Supéry wine club members will enjoy club member benefits at these events.  We’ll have special guests, including our wine maker and chef, who will be appearing via U-Stream.

If you aren’t able to be there physically, you can follow along on St.Supery’s custom TasteLive page or Twitter using the #stsupery hash tag.  In an effort to get wine drinkers to taste along online, the winery has created “taste packs,” 4-packs of wine sold at a discounted price.

St. Supéry East Coast Tweetup Tour (click on the city below to RSVP to that event)-

October 13th BOSTON Twitter Taste Live with Bin Ends Wine
October 14th NEW JERSEY at Gary’s Wine & Marketplace
October 15th NEW YORK CITY Roger Smith Hotel
October 16th NEW YORK CITY Harry’s Cafe & Steakhouse in the Financial District
October 20th ATLANTA at Murhpy’s
October 20th ATLANTA WINE SCHOOL hosted by Ed Thralls aka @winetonite
October 22nd WASHINGTON DC at Pearson’s (speaking at TWTRCON that day)
October 23rd *to be announced
October 24th ORLANDO at Gran Cru

Hope to see you there!  This is going to be fun so grab your tickets now…

Cheers,

Rick

At the end of April, Murphy-Goode launched areallygoodejob.com on their quest to find one person to be their Lifestyle Correspondent. This person will live at the winery in Healdsburg, California and use social media to build Murphy-Goode’s brand online. To apply, applicants upload a 60 second video explaining why they would be the best person for the job. So far the number of applicants is approaching 1,000. The winery plans to whittle down the field to 50 on June 26th.  Then on July 7th, the winery will announce their final ten applicants, who will visit the winery for a three-day interview process. On July 21, the winery will announce the person they’ve selected to be their Lifestyle Correspondent.

I uploaded my video (vote here) and applied about three weeks ago. Since that time, so many strange and unexpected things have happened. CBS 4 Denver did a story on my quest.  Mashable provided a nice write-up.  There have been a number of friends online who have gone out of their way to help me in my drive to land this position. Below I’ve listed the friends who continue to support the effort and want to thank everyone for being a part of this.
If my path leads to the Murphy-Goode winery, there’ll be an open invitation for a “tweetup” or in other words, friends will be welcome to come for a visit. We’ll taste wine and post tasting notes on your social portal of choice. Before I list the friends who have gone above and beyond, I want to take a moment to thank VinTank for endorsing me as well as bringing together 8 passionate people who have formed the bonds of friendship as part of the VinTank 4+.

Thank you to the following people who have helped (if you don’t already, follow these VIPs):
@jaimiebakas – You are my every reason and I’d be incomplete without you.  Your support makes this possible.
@tekee – Ted lives nearby, but we haven’t met in person yet (although not for a lack of effort). Ted is always supporting the Bakas’
@totalbev – My local wine shop not only rockin’ it on Twitter, but now part of TasteLive.com online tastings.
@misternoodle – My co-blogger on BlogBQue.com. Russ and I met on Twitter, then in person in Chicago, now working together.
@shellykramer – My other co-blogger on BlogBQue.  Shelly, Russ and I talk often and just really clicked.
@alohaarleen – One of Twitter’s top 3 tweeters spreading her positive vibe far and wide. There’s a reason she has such a large following!
@zaibatsu – One of the “Big Dogs” in social media. This CO tweeter usually ranks as one of the most influential people on Twitter with over 80,000 followers
@robmcnealy – Another “Big Dog” with about 100,000 followers on Twitter. Rob is a CO tweeter who is in another league
@Jason_Pollock - A cool film maker from NY. Jason’s new film, The Youngest Candidate is produced by Pulp Fiction & An Inconvenient Truth team
@ginidietrich – Chicago-based wine+food lover. Gini is the CEO of Arment Dietrich and author of spinsucks.com
@carece – There’s not enough room here to list all the reasons Carece is a Twitter VIP. She is one of the top 3 people you could ever follow.
@modishplum – Denver based all around stud chica who has a food blog of her own.
@lisaadamswalter – Lisa and I talk wine frequently. She was one of the first people in the wine industry who really seemed to have a good online presence.
@OliviaWilder - Internet Talk Radio host, portrait painter, writer, lover of life and laughter. Eternal Optimist.
@edo_au – Ed Sullivan and I have been talking, tweeting and sharing since last fall. Ed is a wine & food lover in Sydney, Australia. Check him out!
@jansimpson – I like Jan. She has a rather large following for a reason. Discover why.
@jennyjenjen – Jen is a recent CU grad who works in PR, and actually gets social media. PR firms would be smart to hire her.
@sweetnote – Like her name indicates
@electromute – One of the coolest people in Boulder, and one of the most kick butt developers at Gnip.
@jerell – Husband in love to @Salus, MBA, PMP, CoFounder of Salus Bath and Body Care (Natural, Organic), www.iFollowBack.com, US Marine
@salus – Founder/Owner of SALUS, custom natural and organic, bath and body care.
@pmabray – Paul is one of the founders of VinTank. He’s brought together a group of 8 people under the VinTank 4+ endorsement who are kind of like the Justice League of wine
@michelleflores – Michelle brings a positive message every day to Twitter. She’s another CO tweeter who’s always very supportive of others.
@MediaMum – She’s Australian, she lives in Boulder, she is a great person and important member of the online community. What’s not to like?
@StrawberryToast – Victoria is a chef in NY with an impressive track record. She helps make my wine+food pairings better by suggesting things I hadn’t thought of to make the meal even better.
@MistyMontano – The cosmic glue that connects the state of CO with CBS4 news. She’s the eyes and ears of this state.
@ThePicMan – One of my first Twitter friends. We started talking about bacon a year and a half ago and haven’t looked back.
@Spaulds1 – Susan checks in every day with a positive, “how are you today?” greeting. She is supportive of many, lover of all.
@Bptbtrfly – Kathleen is a wine and food lover, and helps share my wine+food pairings daily with her followers.
@allison1j – When she’s not running the PR firm Conking, Fiskum & McCormick she’s up for supporting a goode cause
@KimSherrell – Anyone who follows Kim knows she is one of the best Twitter personalities mixing humor with good vibes
@MayhemStudios – Calvin is often one of the most ReTweeted people on Twitter with good reason. His blog and design tips are the best online.
@JaxLicurse – I see Jackie on Twitter just about every day consistently interacting and supporting others.
@lorimoreno – Lori is not only THE most positive person on Twitter, but she makes some cool little designs in her tweets using text characters.
@StewartStudio – Diane is another CO tweeter who has supported the cause
@Iconic88 – One of my favorite Aussie Tweeters sharing good vibes and loves good food!
@givemebargains – Nat is awesome and she RT’s whenever we’re online at the same time. She’s consistent and positive.
@Tatiana_K – There’s so many great people to list, Tatiana should be higher up the list because of her pleasant vibe she brings to Twitter.  I look for her tweetage.
@birdsall – Maureen runs Birdsall Interactive. She’s doing some cool stuff and we have many same interests: wine, food, site design, social media, etc….
@naomimimi – Yet another awesome CO tweeter who “gets” social media, and she’s very supportive of others.
@passionsista – Quality tweetage from a quality human being. She’s awesome, really awesome.

@pugofwar – Ef is like my brother in the bonds of bacon from Boulder.
@wineevangelist – We love talking about wine!
@CMChadwick – I met Chris at a tweetup, and have had lunch a few times. He’s a great CO tweeter who’s reach is far and wide
@geekmommy – If there’s anyone in CO who gets social media more than Lucretia I’d like to meet them. She knows how to “mom it forward”
@ColeDavid – David is one of the few wine people who “gets” social media. We’ve been chatting for almost a year now.
@buzzedition – Everyone knows Susan aka BuzzEdition and her famous ~hugs~ sign off on each tweet.
@ladydreamer823 – She didn’t just vote, she voted 3 times! Any friend of Ted (aka @tekee) is a friend of mine.
@Whitsundays – Another one of my favorite Aussie tweeters. Alf is the go-to tweeter for all things related to Queensland.
@terri5me2000
@froggie775
@ejoep
@southplatte – CO based tweeter I hope to meet some day.
@TanyaNoel – One of my newer friends on Twitter. We met via @misternoodle.
@timbury – Tim is a cool dude, and always has a way of supporting you when you least expect it.
@mclinklove – One of the newer Twitter VIPs. This guy gets it.
@Bradinator – We love wine. We love bacon. You can still crash at our place when you come for ski season
@gravyfloid – The coolest avatar on Twitter. Period.
@isweatbutter – We met because I sweat bacon. Paula Deen loves us.
@stoc – More great wine and social media vibes.
@TheBigKlosowski – Allen is a CO tweeter who has a sizeable following for a reason. Check him out.
@EmmaRileySutton – Thank you
@mbernier – Matt and I met a few times in person, he’s a cool dude working on a useful Twitter app.
@Rajean – Supporting my quest on Facebook and Twitter
@donnawhite – Thanks for the RT love