The idea for the #PinotNoir Twitter smackdown was hatched over wine and wings in my basement with Joe (@SuburbanWino) and was later fleshed out further over crawfish and shrimp at the Crawfish Shack on Buford highway. There’s just something about filling our gullets with food that really gets the creative juices flowing. Throughout the entire process a lot of jokes were made and many more fun and crazy ideas were discussed. Of course, we needed a west coast correspondent so we brought in Tamara (@SipWithMe) who was fantastic in moving things forward from her Oregon HQ. In the end, the Pinot Noir Twitter tasting created a buzz we could not have fathomed and we could not be more happy with the turnout. Thanks to everyone who participated or followed along. Without further ado:
Winner of the 2010 #Pinot Noir Twitter Smackdown:
#WV (Willamette Valley)
Play-by-Play Summary:
- We saw a serious flurry of blows thrown immediately out of the gate as #WV (Willamette Valley) took the early lead and really never looked back
- #NZ (New Zealand) was hanging tough though in a distant second place followed by #GV (Green Valley) after the first 40 minutes of the night
- By the halfway point, however, #RR (Russian River Valley) had swooped into 3rd place followed by #GV and #SLH (Santa Lucia Highlands). No doubt, the Belle Glos Las Alturas and Hahn submissions were behind the quick rise of Santa Lucia Highlands in the rankings
- #CN (Los Carneros) started making a late surge with 30 minutes to go, but couldn’t muster enough flying elbows to gain any glory
- #RR and #GV were gunning neck and neck for 3rd place — in hind sight, if the regions were aggregated, could #RR have provided more of a challenge to #WV? No, not really. #WV stole the show.
Event Stats:
- Total tweets during the 2-hour event: 2,073
- Total unique tweeters during the event: 323
- Tweets per minute: 17.3
- Tweets including a #hashtag region vote: 873 or 42.1%
- Several event sites, including ours, are reporting significant sales generated at the event – would like hear other results if you hosted an event or promoted a special offer as part of the event
- [UPDATED] 2,224 pageviews of the pinotnoir.eventbrite.com invitation
Top 8 Results during Event:
| Region | Tweets | % |
| #WV | 407 | 46.6% |
| #NZ | 84 | 9.6% |
| #RR | 71 | 8.1% |
| #GV | 58 | 6.6% |
| #CN | 41 | 4.7% |
| #SLH | 32 | 3.7% |
| #SN | 25 | 2.9% |
| #RV | 20 | 2.3% |
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July 1 – July 15 #PinotNoir Stats: (incl. 2-hour event)
- Total tweets: 4,145
- Total unique tweeters during the period: 677
- Tweets including a #hashtag region mention: 1,461 or 35.2%
Top 8 Results during July 1 – July 15:
| Region | Tweets | % |
| #WV | 595 | 40.7% |
| #CN | 166 | 11.4% |
| #NZ | 158 | 10.8% |
| #RR | 101 | 6.9% |
| #GV | 67 | 4.6% |
| #OR | 59 | 4.0% |
| #SLH | 44 | 3.0% |
| #RV | 33 | 2.3% |
Notables:
- Mentions for #ARG, #FLX and #CdN were great to see and generated some interest from many on the stream
- Others include #Bacon, #Pinotentendre and #wewantthefunk
MANY THANKS TO:
Tamara Belgard – SipWithMe.com
Andrea Robinson – AndreaWine.com
Tower Beer Wine Spirits 
Paul’s Restaurant 
And most importantly YOU the participants, the pinotphiles, the wineries and the winemakers. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and drinking along.
#RV hung in there at the bottom! Not bad considering that I am sure it was JUST ME with the awesome 2008 Foris Vineyards and Winery Pinot Noir!
One minute we didn’t have a Carneros winery to host, the next minute we had 50 people in the Anaba Tasting Room having a Party! So happy both virtual and live events were successful, although I admit it would have been nice to take the win, it was about community – the Pinot Noir community. And that – just – happened! THX Again.
Hi Jennifer. Sounds like a blast at Anaba. Of course, with your upbeat personality, that would be a given every time I am sure. You are absolutely right… it is about community and people coming together and we certainly did that across the globe. Thanks for your support! Also, can’t wait to meet you when I’m in the area soon.
Beth, thanks for your hard work on #RR and the event overall as a top 3 tweeter for the day. We all had a riot over here in Atlanta and I really enjoyed the 07 Halleck “3 Sons Cuvee” from RRV as well. Cheer!
Man,
If only I didn’t have such technical difficulties with my video, I could have gotten #RR up a little higher I’m sure!
Thanks for putting this on, t’was fun!
later
Brian
norcalwingman
Thanks for organising guys – fantastic initiative! We Kiwis think 2nd place is not too bad for #NZ – certainly for a lunchtime effort
But look out next time is all I can say!
Frances – NZ Winegrowers
man, I need to get these mortgage loans at good creditors!
Awesome job, kid! I felt a little rushed at the beginning (we ended up having plenty of time, it seems), but I wanted to say how much I appreciated you spearheading the event and really turning it into something special.
I think we need to do two things before you head out west:
1) Put together another local event. Not necessarily a twitter thing; just another opportunity to connect with the community.
2) Have a blowout food/wine festivus. Pelly? The ‘Stock? It don’t matter; we’re getting a babysitter!
and fyi…Beth was talking about Rogue Valley
Thanks Joe… yeah, read Beth’s post too fast and got RRV on the brain… sorry about that, Beth!
_
I couldn’t have done it without you and Tamara. The ATL venue was much bigger than expected and we learned a lot of lessons… having said that, I agree it was SPECIAL. Yes, we must get the group of winos in town together before I leave… let’s get started on that.
Oregon #1 by a landslide?? Russian River, Green Valley, Sonoma Coast, and San Lucia Highlands down below them. Something funny going on here. Obviously a big push here related to the home field advantage.
Bill, pretty amazing isn’t it? I chalk it up to quick organization and collaboration by that area. They wanted everyone to know who they thought the Pinot kind was.
Let us know when it’s time to challenge the #WV for the belt. We intend to keep it.
Sweet! We were burning up Twitter at the killer tasting I attended at Storyteller Wine Co. in Portland (#WV). 18 pinots from #WV and one from #SLH (16.9 ABV-ouch!) The highlight was a 1983 #WV Pinot Noir from Shafer Vineyards that held up for about 15 minutes before dying.
Thanks for organizing this event!
Sure thing, Steven… I am thinking this could become an annual affair (?)
_
Robert… are related to the poet, taking the road less travelled, perhaps? Sounds like a great time in Portland. Interesting to see a Pinot last 27 years… wow! Got any pictures?