Wine Stories for #winechat (recap)

I hosted my first successful Twitter chat. It came out of #foodchat a few weeks prior when the topic was wine. The interactivyt amongst the group on the topic of wine was compelling to me. Before the chat ended several folks said they were having so much fun that they wanted to chat wine again. Really? Will it be that easy?

Twitter chats can be difficult to pull off if you don’t get people on board ahead of time, and that means your network needs to be pretty good sized and/or you get help. I was lucky enough for both to smile on the first edition of the chat.

I picked “Wine Stories” for the first month’s topic. I was hoping it would allow people of all levels of wine appreciation share interesting wine anecdotes from their lives and lay a foundation for return Tweeters and growth potential. And I think it worked.

I had a series of questions prepare as do most well executed Twitter chats. I did get through all of them and the responses were a fun read.

1. What is your favorite wine and why?
2. Share something you didn’t know about wine but were shocked to find out when you did.
3. What is the most exotic location that you have enjoyed a bottle of wine in?
4. What is the farthest you’ve travelled to find a particular bottle of wine?
5. What is the most unusual wine you have ever had?
6. What is the best wine and food pairing you have ever experienced?
7. Who is your life is the best person to drink wine with?
8. What is the most useful piece of wine-related advice you have ever received?
9. Share a wine-related goal of yours. Try this wine, make wine, visit this region, etc.
10. In three words sum up “Wine Stories” on #winechat.

I did take a transcript of all the tweets leading up to and during the chat so I can give you some stats about the participation in the event.

• There were about 400 tweets during the two and a half hours the chat ran.
• 30 tweeps contributed those 400 tweets with a core group of about 10-12 that were very active during the entire chat.
• About half the group had a glass of wine in front of them and shared what they were drinking.

As with most chats with a Q&A format there will be notable answers that give the event great context and maximum enjoyment. Here is what I found.

• Question 1 generated mostly responses about red wines including, Napa Cab, Amarone and Chateauneuf-du-Pape.
• There most interesting response for Question 2 was from @alawine with “that there are more sulfites in orange juice than red wine.”
• The Question 3 & 4 responses came from all over. France, Sweden, Hungary, the corner store and whatever was around when feeling a bit lazy.
• Unusual wine? @tmvwinery got Question 5 rolling with “Garlic Wine in Iowa - even got a tour of it being made. After tasting it, I said I'm done & need a beer.”
• Question 6 generated all sorts of responses but @CowlickCottage threw out the following to make us all think of what we might be missing. “I'm surprised no one has mentioned the great relationship between chocolate and wine.”
• Question 7 has a few answers that come quicky to mind, but @kermode nailed it with “easiest question ever - my husband!”
• For Question 8 @deblovespinot shared this saged advice, “take your time,learn listen,taste,compare your palate will catch up”. I agree!
• The Question 9 answers had mostly to do with visiting wine regions in France.
• The best signoff from Question 10 was “Wine enhances discussion” from @happyhourmary.

Join us at the end of the month for #winechat. It will held on the last Tuesday of each month at 8PM EST. The topic for the April hasn’t yet been selected. If you are interested in hosting a future wine chat please let me know.

Cheers!

Jason