WA Merlot Event: Twitter Tasting on March 25th

by Shona Milne on February 26, 2010

Some of you may have heard talk about a Washington Merlot nationwide Twitter tasting coming up on March 25th. We would love to have participation from as many Woodinville wineries as possible. If you don’t have a Merlot, a Merlot domination blend can qualify. Below is more information on how you can participate. I’ll be one of the participating bloggers & tweeters. You can follow me on Twitter @Shona425

You’re invited to participate in an exciting nationwide tasting event featuring Washington Merlot. Thursday, March 25 from 5-7pm PT, hundreds and potentially thousands of people will be simultaneously talking about Washington wine. A similar event was hosted focusing on California Cabernet. During this event 50 wineries and over 300 individuals used Twitter to ‘tweet and taste’ about California Cabs. Aside from the thousands of tweets about California wine, hundreds gathered in tasting room ‘tweet-ups’ and the event garnered local media attention and recognition in the New York Times.
The event is being hosted by DrinkNectar.com and 10 prominent and influential Washington wine writers/bloggers from across the state. National Wine and Social Media expert Gary Vaynerchuk has also joined in by offering a special three-pack of Washington Merlot available through his Wine Library site specifically for this event (to assist those not able to easily locate WAMerlot). The more wineries that participate, the more buzz we can generate for our great wine state. This even leads into Taste Washington Seattle and the upcoming Wine Bloggers Conference in Walla Walla.
How Can I Participate?
• For starters, go to http://wamerlot.eventbrite.com/ and register (indicating you represent a winery)
• If you’re not on Twitter, now is a great time to start. Most of the buzz will be through people tweeting what their tasting. Using a special Twitter hashtag, #WAMerlot, anyone can follow along. This is a great opportunity to interact with wine lovers across the state – especially if they happen to be drinking your wine!
o If you need any assistance using Twitter, viewing the #WAMerlot hashtag, or getting going, feel free to visit DrinkNectar.com for Twitter tips specific to the event.
• Create an event on your Facebook page to let all your fans know how they can participate. You can point people directly to the http://wamerlot.eventbrite.com/ page or copy that information to your event.
• Host a ‘tweet-up’ or tasting event in your tasting room. If you don’t feature a Merlot in your line-up, feel free to insert a blend that contains Merlot.
• Offer a special on your Merlot to pique interest and action
• Have fun! Have your computer handy during the event. Tweet using #WAMerlot so you are seen and encourage the visitors to your tasting room to do the same. Your wine will be seen with hundreds of other Washington wineries and wine lovers.
The greatest part about all of this buzz and concentrated marketing effort – the cost to you is zero! I’m excited to see the power of a unified effort using Social Media to bring attention to Washington Wine in a fresh way.

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