Hugel live twitter wine tasting London

Last night I was delighted to be part of a Live Twitter Wine Tasting.

Here's the scoop. A group of people gathered round to taste amazing Hugel & Fils white wines from the Alsace region. As we ate and drank we tweeted our taste sensations, sharing them with an American group who were doing the same thing - albeit later, because of the time difference.

When the fabulous Annie Mole first told me about the evening I was utterly intrigued. Not just because it involved two of my favourite things in the universe (i.e. food and wine), but because it was a social evening not just arranged through social media (inviting friends to an event on Facebook is so last year) but this was actually arranged around social media, where social media was going to play an active part in the real life activity.

It did feel as if there was a paralell event taking place around the table. @anniemole poked fun at @jamescridland and his love/hate relationship with his "steaming pile of fail" iPhone... We read a tweet from our wonderful host Robert McIntosh about what course was next. That kind of thing.


Interestingly, the innate social-media-ness of it all compeltely re-wrote the rule-book on etiquette. Anyone peering in on the scene would be forgiven for confusing us with a bunch of socially inept barbarians. Our phones were out and very well used, laptops were on, wine was criticised (though mostly praised) and pictures were taken non-stop - now I know how Britney feels.

Anyway, enough of the sociology, here is last night's menu, with my accompanying tweets. The hungry and thirsty should look away now:

1. Hugel Tradition Gentil (aka Les Fleurs d'Alsace) 2006
Match: Scallops pan fried with white wine, ginger, garlic and chilli

I said: dry, full, smooooooth and dry, but I can certainly drink it.

2. Hugel Tradition Pinot Blanc 2006
Match: Red Onion or Asparagus Tarts with baby leaf salad

I said: Hmmm. I've never liked white wine. And I still don't. Ahem. I have always loved asparagus tart though. Yum, yum.

3. Hugel Tradition Gewürztraminer 2006
Match: Fois Gras Mi Cuit with toast and fig chutney

I said: enjoyed with a hefty slice of fois gras. Smelled of marshmallow. Made the flavours ignite like fireworks - New Year's Eve in my mouth.

4. Hugel Riesling Jubilee 2004
Match: Pork Medallions with Mustard Mash, Apples and Cider Reduction

I said: I drank it, yet it felt like the inside of my mouth never moistened from it. Icky.

5. Hugel Gewürztraminer Vendage Tardive 2001
Match: Coconut Maccaroons

I said: looks and smelled like honey.

But I highly, highly recommend you completely ignore my incompetent appraisals and read the expert's blog instead.

Lovely to share a meal with such interesting bods:

Annie Mole, Sandrine, Jeremy, Kai, Niamh, James. Big thanks to Andrew & Robert for a brilliant evening.

Here are Kai's thumbnails from his Flickr stream of the night: