
Technology can be a double-edged sword. Always-on internet and social media allow us to network and broadcast as never before, but that immediacy can sometimes be problematic.
At last year’s European Wine Bloggers Conference, the organisers went to great pains to ensure that we delegates had a near-constant wifi connection, enabling us to blog, tweet, like and share almost everything that happened at the conference in real time. Mostly this was genius, demonstrating an excellent return-on-investment to the very generous conference sponsors in Brescia and beyond. Occasionally when things went wrong (food arriving late or not at all, at the gala dinner), the torrent of carefully tagged and rather barbed tweets (being streamed onto a large screen for all to see) was, one suspects, somewhat embarrassing for the conference organisers.
Still, the high availability of wifi and its concomitant effects possibly reached their zenith on an all-day trip to Italy’s Northerly Alto Adige region. Our coach load of 25 wine nuts had its very own wifi engineer who travelled patiently with us all day, ensuring a high-quality connection on the two hour bus trip, at the wineries and even at our restaurant over lunch (delivered via a 3G-wifi bridge, I believe). This enabled a level of real-time twitter reportage that varied from the useful and well observed, to the plainly absurd and obsessive.
Since others have provided a detailed rundown of this splendid day (Notably Alexandra Corvo, Katie Myers, Andrew Barrow and Paola Tich) , with far more enlightening tasting notes than I could muster, I offer for your delectation instead the day as told to twitter:
The early start was made more painful for some who were overly enthusiastic the night before . . .
@spaswinefood #ewbc in Italy today it is Alto Adige : http://t.co/NPl7DGSN
Sun Oct 16 07:37:38
@aleksimehtonen Okay, with the help of few hours of sleep I move on to Breakfast and then off to Alto Adige! #EWBC
Sun Oct 16 07:42:47
@sipswooshspit Claps as our coach finally leaves for Alto Adige. Yay! #ewbc
Sun Oct 16 08:46:47
@simonjwoolf Would have missed the alto adige trip if it didn’t leave on Gabriella Mean Time #ewbc #lucky
Sun Oct 16 08:50:01
@viniculture_pl Is there anyone surprised we’re 45 minutes late on the bus to alto addige? #EWBC
Sun Oct 16 08:50:33
@LouiseHurren pleased that we’re visiting Tramin on our Alto-Adige outing #ewbc #ewbc2011 http://t.co/UVIA478t
Sun Oct 16 08:52:43
Some people were still harking back to the late change in the gala dinner menu the night before:

@zone41 Dreaming with Pizza, let see if they got it http://t.co/AP5AKyFt #altoadige #Ewbc
Sun Oct 16 09:02:09 2011

@WineCoMN #EWBC #altoadige Possibly the most scenic gas stop ever. Love this place. http://t.co/8Ef00EDJ
Sun Oct 16 10:38:48
Others were not quite ready for the first wine tasting of the day (11am):

@wine_scribbler At border of alto adige… so ten minutes until first wines of the day! #ewbc (but no coffee)
Sun Oct 16 10:42:10

@WineCoMN #EWBC Welcome to South Tyrol! Magnificent. Where’s the coffee?????????
Sun Oct 16 10:45:59

@simonjwoolf The barrista at lunch yesterday was offended when I asked for cafe lungo. Can’t taste the terroir apparently.#ewbc #italy
Sun Oct 16 10:52:00
@sipswooshspit Given that we are now in a part of Italy that used to be Austria, I imagine everything will now run on time #ewbc
Sun Oct 16 10:46:02

@LouiseHurren crazy architecture alert at Tramin #ewbc http://t.co/PJNP2QtV
Sun Oct 16 11:54:54

Anyone who was expecting a quick race through half a dozen wines was in for a shock . . .

@viniculture_pl #ewbc time to taste some wine! (@ Cantina Tramin Kellerei) http://t.co/uFh2JKiR
Sun Oct 16 12:02:33


Sun Oct 16 12:13:29

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Sun Oct 16 12:41:48

Sun Oct 16 12:47:01
By wine #20, some of us were beginnning to flag . . .
sipswooshspit Five flights of Nussbaumer Gewurtz next at Tramin. @simonjwoolf is hanging in there.. #ewbc
Sun Oct 16 12:52:35

Sun Oct 16 12:52:51

Sun Oct 16 12:54:00

Sun Oct 16 12:54:53

Sun Oct 16 12:56:38
It wasn’t only the wines that were grabbing people’s attention

Sun Oct 16 12:56:47

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As we moved to reds and sweet wines, stomachs began to rumble

Sun Oct 16 13:15:34

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Lunch at the Seehofkeller proved to be rather a hit . . .

@wine_scribbler Lunch in the glorious sun overlooking a beautiful lake. It’s quite nice…#ewbc
Sun Oct 16 14:35:58


Sun Oct 16 15:10:58

Sun Oct 16 15:16:47

Sun Oct 16 15:21:41

Somewhat exhausted, we drove to the day’s second winery – Terlan, near Bolzano. And only two hours behind schedule.

@viniculture_pl Vertical tasting is about to begin #ewbc #altoadige (@ Terlano) [pic]: http://t.co/EsP1eczV
Sun Oct 16 16:13:01

@wine_scribbler A wine tasting? What now? Ok then… let’s get it going.. #ewbc
Sun Oct 16 16:15:54

@WineCoMN #EWBC interesting (and wonderful): Terlan tastes it’s crisp whites from Riedel Vinum Burgundy stems (my favorite).
Sun Oct 16 16:19:31

@zone41 Cantina Tralan -tasting view – #ewbc http://t.co/mrUE0sLm
Sun Oct 16 16:25:27
Terlan’s speciality is its library of older vintages – of white wines . . .

@KatieDrinksWine Terlan 2006 Pinot Bianco Reserva from MAGNUM. Never had Pinot Biancos like this before. Chalky nose. #acid #character #EWBC
Sun Oct 16 16:29:36


Sun Oct 16 16:34:25
And when we say old
sipswooshspit We’re on the 1987 Terlan Vorberg Pinot Bianco http://t.co/uafj6n0y #ewbc
Sun Oct 16 16:46:54

Sun Oct 16 16:48:25

We mean *really* old

Sun Oct 16 16:49:04

Sun Oct 16 16:50:45



Sun Oct 16 16:55:05
This tasting wasn’t just about vintage Pinot Bianco though

Sun Oct 16 16:55:41

Sun Oct 16 16:56:36
Sun Oct 16 17:00:58
The Chardonnays also had considerable staying power

Sun Oct 16 17:01:15

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Sun Oct 16 17:04:50
And the Sauvignons weren’t too shabby either


Sun Oct 16 17:23:13

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Sun Oct 16 17:25:10

Sun Oct 16 17:26:43

@sipswooshspit Like the Duracell bunny the acidity in Terlan’s wines lasts for years, based on evidence in today’s tastings #ewbc
Sun Oct 16 17:29:46

Terlaner is the classic white blend of the region

Sun Oct 16 17:35:29

Sun Oct 16 17:37:52

Sun Oct 16 17:39:14

Sun Oct 16 17:39:37

Sun Oct 16 17:40:18

Sun Oct 16 17:42:47

Sun Oct 16 17:44:21

The Terlan tasting was without question the standout flight of the whole three day conference

Sun Oct 16 17:50:14


Sun Oct 16 17:51:38
Sun Oct 16 17:52:05
Tasting notes for such venerable wines were frequently imaginative

Sun Oct 16 17:55:31

Sun Oct 16 17:56:34

Sun Oct 16 17:56:57

All that was left was a final summing up on the coach trip back to Brescia . .
@sipswooshspit Love the fact we had our own wifi guy with us today to keep us connected everywhere #ewbc
Sun Oct 16 20:16:46
———
We were the guests of Tramin and Terlan. Judith Unterholzner was our gracious guide/tour manager for the day.
Many thanks to all the authors of the tweets, namely:
I am wondering if you guys actually talked or just tweeted? Sounds like a good time was had by all.