I’m very fortunate in that I get the opportunity to go to a large number of high quality wine events. The vast majority of the time, I know what to expect for each event, not that it affects my ability to completely enjoy myself, mind you! But every once in a while, a wine event sneaks onto my calendar that provides a whole lot more than expected, upon arrival. The inaugural Napa Valley Tweetup (Twitter), organized by Gabriel Carrejo (Twitter) and Bonfire Interactive…was one of these events.
I arrived via the ride roundup technology that only VinTank (Twitter) and Cruvee (Twitter) can provide: I met up with James Jory of Cruvee and Clay Wallin (Twitter) from VinTank through Twitter DM’s with the Kung Fu Master himself, Paul Mabray (Twitter). We made our way upvalley and after entering the gates of Robert Mondavi Winery (Twitter, Blog) at nightfall, we had a candlelit walk to their new barrel room that I had yet to see, the To Kalon Fermentation Cellar. We were greeted by a surprisingly calm Gabriel and directed to the further spotlit and candlelit barrel room and handed a glass of the 2008 Robert Mondavi Winery Napa Valley Fumé Blanc.
I was completely taken aback by the production quality of the event. Multiple, social media-driven wine stations featuring reserve and limited production Mondavi wines, two sensory stations, a live art installation, lounge areas all around and live, stand-up bass led quartet. It was clear that a ton of thought and heart went into this almost “re-introduction” of Mondavi to the new wine-drinking public…and they just totally nailed it! Proceeds from the ticket sales for the event went to the Napa Valley Education Foundation, which hit home for me, proud as I am of my sister who teaches 5th grade at Philips Charter School in south Napa as a highly decorated veteran teacher. Almost every single digital mover and shaker attended that night, many were some that I had never had the pleasure of meeting IRL and by the end, it felt like a very elegant reunion of vinopanions that I’ve admired and worked with over the last few years.
The list of wines that I tasted from the layout that night is given below. The level of quality in these wines was extremely high across the board and I was very thankful to have a chance to taste these limited release wines. A huge thank you to Gabriel et al, Jocelyn at Mondavi and everyone else that had a hand in this tremendous and historic night.
All of these wines have been tagged with “NVTweetup1Mondavi“, if you’d like to list them in your own WineLog. All of the photos from that night are on my Flickr. Cheers!
Robert Mondavi Winery Napa Valley Fumé Blanc 2008
Robert Mondavi Winery Napa Valley Chardonnay 2008
Robert Mondavi Winery Napa Valley Reserve Chardonnay 2006
Robert Mondavi Winery Oakville To Kalon Vineyard I-Block 2006
Robert Mondavi Winery Carneros Reserve Pinot Noir 2008
Robert Mondavi Winery Carneros Pinot Noir 2008
Robert Mondavi Winery Carneros District Cabernet Sauvignon 2006
June 1, 2010
Visit Palm Beach Food and Wine Festival’s blog to connect with other foodies and share about your favorite wines: http://www.palmbeachfoodandwinefestival.com
June 1, 2010
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Ward Kadel – @drXeNo and vintank, vintank. vintank said: RT @drxeno: A very special night for the inaugural @NVtweetup at Robert #Mondavi Winery: http://bit.ly/aTOdkj #wine @VinTank @Cruvee @WineLog #fb […]
June 2, 2010
What’s up, Doc? I am flattered by your review of this special event. Angelica de Vere and her team at Robert Mondavi Winery just knocked it out of the park. The cool thing is not only do they produce great wines and events, they are great people, too.
I look forward to seeing you at the next Napa Valley Tweetup.
Until then…
Cheers,
Gabriel
June 10, 2010
GOLD Restaurant is a vibrant, eclectic Pan-African experience in the heart of Cape Town. We offer a night of opulent feasting with a unique bouquet of live entertainment in a mystical African setting of trees and tents in an inner city courtyard steeped in ancient history and GOLD.
GOLD offers an opportunity to sample cuisine from our Cape Malay kitchen, as well as some well loved traditional African inspired dishes. The entire menu is served at the table as a set tasting menu in sharing and individual portions.
GOLD has a very proud association with Tamsin and Lannice Snyman who are our menu consultants and are responsible for all our recipes, research and staff training. It is a wonderful collaboration and we are privileged to have two of South Africa’s finest foodies as part of GOLD. Our head chef, Emily, does justice to their beautiful food every day with her team of 15 ladies.