September 1, 2011 was the second ever Cabernet Day. According to The Wine Punter, Cabernet Day “celebrates this great variety in all its glory by involving people from all over the world… in an on-line conversation about the great grape.”
I hope all of you Cabernet lovers used the day as an excuse to break out some special bottles. I invited six friends over for a blind tasting of 6 Cabernets. The Cabernets we tried ranged in price from $2.00 (I bet you can guess what that was ☺) to $62. The oldest vintage was 2003. Our $2.00 bottle was the only non-vintage wine.
Because we did a blind tasting, we weren’t influenced by what we knew about the wineries, the appellations, the price points, the vintages or anything else. We really enjoyed getting to evaluate each wine based on our experiences (aromas, taste, feel, finish, tannins and overall satisfaction).
Our favorite wine was the Stonegate Diamond Mountain District Reserve 2004 Napa Cab. The review from The Wine Spies highlights the brilliance of this wine. Dark berries, earthiness, great complexity. Yum!
The biggest question we had at the end of the evening is “When is Pinot Noir Day?”
Seriously, I’m always looking for a good excuse to bring together friends for a blind tasting of great wines. Cabernet Day was that perfect excuse. We had so much fun. Cabernet Day is also great for wineries and wine merchants, because it gives them a fun, interesting reason to reach out to their customers.
We definitely have social media to thank for a day like Cabernet Day (a.k.a. #CabernetDay in Twittersphere). When you do a Twitter search of #CabernetDay, you see that people really got into it. Wine enthusiasts, wine educators, wine merchants, wineries – everybody had something good to say about this day.
I’m curious about what kind of long-term enthusiasm these social media events will have. Did you do anything on Cabernet Day, and did you make a point of tweeting or facebooking your experiences? Do you think you might get more involved the next time around? What do you look for from a day like Cabernet Day? Fun? Education? Deals? Something else? What days would you like to see added to the social media calendar?
Please share your thoughts here.
Cheers!
As an independent wine consultant with WineShop At Home, I absolutely enjoy bringing a taste of the Napa wine country home to you one sip at a time. Whether you simply love to drink wine, seek a special personalized wine gift, or are in search of a new wine jobs opportunity as a wine consultant, feel free to contact me for a truly unique wine tasting experience!
Cheers,
Betty Kaufman, WineShop At Home
14 comments
Betty, although I didn’t celebrate #CabernetDay (since I’m not really a fan of that variety), I did see posts flying around on Twitter about the event. I think social media is definitely a great way of helping people to connect and gather more around ideas and events like this. Would love to see a #WhiteZinfandel or #RoseWine or even #Muscato day!
Cheers!
Lee
I agree with you that #CabernetDay calls for many other wine days. I would jump at the chance to celebrate #MuscatDay 🙂
Betty, thanks to you, I did have Cabernet Day on my radar. As a business owner, I love tying into pre-established theme days. There’s a bit less work to do because there’s already a buzz and, often, marketing materials available. I would imagine discounts on Cabernet Day could be popular as well as a larger event you could host. There’s no reason why your 6 people couldn’t be 20 or 30 who pay for the pleasure of tasting and comparing great wines.
That makes a lot of sense to tie into pre-established theme days where there’s already buzz. Definitely more bang for the buck!
I loved the ability to participate with the help of social media! While I too Lee, would love to see a Muscat day or a Pinot Gris day, I was able to participate with Betty in Cab day by sharing our thoughts on the various wines tried at both locations. This also allowed her to help out some of my friends who were wondering when would be the best time to drink their Cabernet. Spreading the wine expertise. I love it!
Sandra, I agree with you that these Twitter-designed wine days are the perfect excuse to share experiences and learn from one another. I’m with you and Lee in thinking that we need to add a few more wine days to the calendar!
Sounds like fun! I didn’t have any cabernet wine in the house that day or I would have celebrated even by myself! I am curious, Betty, what price range did the one you liked the best fall into? I think it is interesting that the most expensive may not be the best, but am wondering how that worked out.
The wine that won was a $36 bottle of wine. You’re right that the wines we like best aren’t necessarily the most expensive. That’s why blind tastings are so much fun. You’re not influenced by information like price. Thanks for your comments, Donna!
I somehow missed the whole “Cab Day” event all together. But.., I’m with Lee in that I’d be very happy to join in on a “White Zin Day”. I tell people I like the embarrassing “kool-aid” wines since the reds are a bit tart for my delicate taste buds (haha!). The wine that Betty sells which is my absolute favorite is the Muscat ~ nice and sweet and goes down tooooooo easy.
I love the Muscat!!!
Linda, I’m with you. I love Muscat and would be in seventh heaven celebrating Muscat Day!
That Stonegate was BEAUTIFUL!!! Cabernet Day was a true reminder that California will out do Texas Wines anytime!!! 😉
🙂
Hi Betty! I love the idea of a blind tasting – what a perfect way to celebrate wine with friends and get some interesting discussion going, both on and offline. Social media is a wonderful compliment to the communal aspect of wine, and I think your post and the conversations it inspired are a perfect example of how the two pieces fit together 🙂
Cheers!
Zoe Geddes-Soltess
Community Engagement, Radian6
@zodot
Zoe, thank you so much for your comments. I really appreciate them. I agree that the combination of wine and social media makes both elements more fun. Cheers!