two-point-oh

As I have mentioned in previous rants, the topic that everyone in the wine industry is talking about is Web 2.0: Should we start a blog? Should we send samples to bloggers? What the hell is a tweet?

This attention to new media has actually resulted in networking nights where wine and technology supposedly meet and hold hands. I went to one of these events last week. This was my first time, and I didn't know what to expect. I was sort of hoping it would be like Comic-Con, but with people dressed as wine bottles or big bunches of grapes or their favorite overly powerful wine critics.

But it wasn't that much different from a normal wine-tasting. Granted, there were some cool tech things (a favorite was this new wine search engine -- I played around with it and did a search for some brut sparkling Vouvray -- got quite a bit of info). And there was a "bloggers' lounge" that was roped off with red velvet stanchions. And there was a giant screen with real-time Twitter Taste Live updates. (Weird experience, by the way -- you're standing next to people, drinking the same wines, but instead of discussing them with one another, you're on your iPhone or your BlackBerry and you're typing away and your comments go up on the wall for all to read instead of hear.)

But there wasn't an overwhelming amount of new technology.

Which in a way, was sort of cool. This means that there are plenty of opportunities out there. (Note to self: Come up with genius idea soon, make a ridiculous amount of money, go to Loire Valley in person and drink sparkling Vouvray with the producer, buy vacation house there if so inclined.)

What's funny is the best parts of the evening were pretty old-fashioned and not 2.0 anything at all. I ran into an old friend I hadn't seen in far too long. And she introduced me to an awesome producer with a quirky sense of humor (rubber chicken butts, anyone?) and killer wines. They even had a few barrel samples.

The Internet is awesome, but there's nothing like that person-to-person connection.

Especially when alcohol is involved.