Wine Riot with Second Glass

At work on Thursday, I randomly clicked on a link posted by a Facebook friend. It led me to Second Glass and its traveling event Wine Riot, which happened to be in Manhattan on Friday and Saturday. I'm constantly looking for unique events to attend in the city, so I texted my red wine-loving roommate to tell her we had to get tickets. Friday was sold out, so we settled on Saturday afternoon. This video gives a great snapshot of my experience:


"Wine Riot is your all access pass to hundreds of new wines. With two parts education and one part revolution, Wine Riot has reinvented 'wine tasting' for the thirsty and curious. Grab a glass and hit the floor -- it's you unleashed against 250 wines from across the globe. Travel the world of wine all under one roof and tackle things you've never tried before. We've rallied up a team of die-hard experts to bring you the brain juice: interactive booths and crash courses loaded with tips and tricks for conquering the wine world. Fueling your night of conquest is a tireless DJ, photo booth, temporary tattoos, and a few thousand of your closest friends. The best part is, we made an app that tracks your favorite wines and shows you where to buy them later, arming you with all the tools needed for total wine domination."

I'm one of those people that loves wine but encourages winos to order for me because I have no idea what I actually like. This crash course, held at the beautiful Sixty-Ninth Regiment Armory, was a great way to start learning. When Erika and I walked in, we were handed stemless wine glasses and a bottle of water (much needed at the event). The space was organized by areas of the world with wineries stationed at individual booths. My favorite part about the event was its mobile app, which allowed you to rate each of the wines and compile a list of your favorites. Now I actually know what to buy when I'm wine shopping. The experts at the booths were quick to educate about their wines, make recommendations, and hand out free swag. We also attended a 30-minute breakout session on German wines. If you're interested, here are a few of my picks of the day:

• Jaillance Clairette de Die France
• 2009 Las Rocas Garnacha Spain
• Dr. L Sparkling Riesling Germany
• Zonin Prosecco Italy
• Farnum Hill Ciders Extra Dry Cider New Hampshire
• Andrew Quady Vya Extra Dry California

Aside from the handy mobile app and excellent social media integration, I also loved the photo booth and infographics. You can see the photo booth pictures that Erika and I took above. Of course, we bought prints to hang on the refrigerator. The infographics were hanging as 8 ft backdrops behind the booths in the center of the room. I mentioned in my first post that I'm nerdy about anything data + design, so adding wine to that mix was even better. The infographics showed where the wines come from, what's in them, how they're produced, etc.

Image via Second Glass

Unfortunately, Wine Riot already visited Boston, D.C., Chicago, and San Francisco this year, but the Los Angeles event is coming up on November 10. I definitely recommend buying tickets. They're $45 right now, which offers four fabulous hours of wine tasting. Believe me, four hours is plenty.