New Friends & New Wines at #SDTTL (San Diego Tweeps You Must Follow)

This is one of the many reasons why I love Twitter. Last weekend, I had the opportunity to meet in real life (or “IRL”) some San Diego wine bloggers/Twitterers (or is it Tweeters?) that I’ve known online for some time. This event was hashtagged #SDTTL, or San Diego Twitter Taste Live. What is a Twitter hashtag you ask? It’s a designation on Twitter, so that if you enter it into the search function, all events with your hashtag instantly appear in an easy to follow manner.

#SDTTL was held at Brain Wine’s house. I probably should let you in on a little secret. I met La Jolla Dad at a bar in Del Mar called En Fuego (please, reserve judgement – it was actually FUN back in 2000). Brain Wines was his wing man. He was also the guy that married us. And likewise, La Jolla Dad was the guy that married Brain Wines and his lovely wife. So let’s just say that I laughed a lot internally about attending a wine Tweetup at Brain Wines’ house.

I arrived with 2 bottles of Grenache, home made chocolate chip cookies, and a boatload of questions to ask. I’m not a wine expert. I come at it from the busy mom’s standpoint. Is it expensive, can you serve it to guests, does taste good, and where can I buy it?  We entertain a lot, therefore, we buy a lot of wine. A lot of wine, in all price ranges. So I was psyched to be in the presence of people who know what they’re talking about. I thoroughly enjoyed my time and find myself gushing first about the actual people in attendance, rather than the delicious and unique wines we tasted. Don’t worry, I’ll gush about those too eventually. Attendees you must follow:

Brain Wines (Keith): In addition to what I just mentioned above, he does have a PhD in neuroscience or something crazy and comes at wine blogging very much from a scientist’s perspective. His site is currently being transported from Blogger to WordPress so be patient – www.brainwines.com.

Cuvee Corner (Bill): Bill spearheaded this event and wrote an amazingly insightful recap, including info regarding the wines we drank. Bill knows a ton about wine and it’s clear it’s his passion. I marvel at what a supportive Twitter friend he is with retweets and thanks, and I knew he was going to be the same in real life. He brought an outstanding selection of gourmet meats that La Jolla Girl even devoured (sorry!) when she and La Jolla Dad picked me up. Read Bill’s thoughts at www.cuveecorner.blogspot.com. (Some of the wines he recommends sell out for a reason)

Beau’s Barrel Room (Beau): Beau is meant to be in the wine business. He also knows a lot about Trader Joe’s (can I mention that?) and can even be seen mixing up pasta dishes using your favorite ingredients from there.  He brought some amazing cheese, including a honey infused feta I must get my hands on.  I wish I would have asked him and Bill more about their adventures at the Wine Blogger’s conference that just happened in Walla Walla – www.beausbarrelroom.blogspot.com.

Wine Harlots (Nannette): I followed Wine Harlots very shortly after joining Twitter. Nannette is a social media genius seeing that she has 16,000 Twitter followers and a ton of Facebook devotees. I was looking forward to meeting Nannette in real life and so disappointed that I forgot to gush about how much I love her music pairings. In her reviews, she matches a song to each bottle of wine she drinks.  She also brought amazing figs, bread and cheese. LOVE it – www.wineharlots.com.

Wine For Blondes (Megan): You don’t have to be blonde to appreciate Megan’s video blogs. I am not a good vlogger (will make an effort to get better now that I have a real camera), but the second she busted out her Flip to introduce the event, I was sold. She’s a lawyer by day and should probably have her own wine TV show. You must subscribe to her 5 wines to taste before you die and check out some of her episodes on www.wineforblondes.com.

And then there was little old me. As you can see, I’m a people person, though the people were certainly outnumbered by bottles – 15 bottles and 7 people (including Brain Wines’ wife). The wines were excellent. I had to leave early to get to a birthday party, but would have been just fine staying there all night chatting with new friends.  I mean it when I say you should follow them.  Each has a different take on the subject, which is part of what makes wine so fantastic.

Tagged as: #SDTTL, San Diego Wine Mafia, Wine, Wine Wednesday