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Twitter Taste Live goes large - 26/01/2009

Well, the big social media experiment worked! Last week we introduced Twitter and Twitter Taste Live to a whole new audience at our Handmade Annual Tasting. In so doing we became the first UK wine company to go beyond blogging and integrate a real-time online tasting and conversation at its major trade event.

How did Twitter Taste Live work?

Sets of 3 samples - Delicato Old Vine Zinfandel, Laurenz V Friendly Gruner Veltliner and Dinastia Vivanco Rioja Crianza - were sent to keen Twitterers around the UK. At 4pm, a dozen-strong group of food and wine bloggers (and Twitterers) gathered within our wine tasting at the Saatchi Gallery to taste the same three wines. The entire group, wherever they were, then tasted and discussed their thoughts. So far, so normal!

The difference in this tasting was that they were all using laptops, iphones or Blackberries to post their thoughts, comments and questions on the Twitter Taste Live website (using the #ttl code) as well as their own Twitter homepages and those of their followers. This put the tasting notes and questions in front a massive new audience.

Bigger than Obama!

As weird and wonderful as it may sound, the Twitter Taste Live Event quickly rose up to the top of the Twitter trend rankings, making it the most talked about subject on Twitter worldwide. With over 300 #ttl tweets and hundreds more associated questions and replies posted about the wines tasted, it even managed to push Obama down to second place, the day after his historic inauguration. Think of it as a conversation in a pub where the #ttl gang is the most vocal, fun crowd in the corner.

Live video was streamed onto the web (see here), and Twitpics taken. You can follow how the conversation went here.

Bibendum will be organising future Twitter wine events and is already using Twitter to communicate with a whole range of new audiences, from bars and restaurants to social media professionals, to bloggers, to everyday drinkers. You can follow our thoughts on Twitter using http://twitter.com/bibendumwine.

Participants at the Tasting included @foodstories, @EatlikeaGirl, @documentally, @andrewchapman, @thirstforwine, @browners, @thewinesleuth @wine_scribbler, @hollowlegs, @chrispople, @Dinner_Diary

Participants around the country included: @Loudmouthman, @Sizemore, @JonTheBeef, @bholden, @WMJohn, @Mackney, @rjbirkin, @fraseredwards, @bigbluemeanie