Being that I am just a few years younger than dirt, all this new technology is a little bit foreign to me…okay, a lot! And even though I have had to enter modern social media, kicking and screaming, I do see that more and more of my wine information is coming from…gulp! Twitter. I find myself spending much more time browsing Twitter than I do looking through the more traditional wine routes such as the Wine Spectator and Wine Advocate. More and more, as I am asked to take part in the Twitter world, I found myself searching more links to sites that I was not aware of in the past, like The Drinks Business, @WineInfoNews and many more. Now I can’t tell if our tweets are selling wine, but I do see that millions of people from all different demographics, from everywhere in the world, from every social/economic level have moved away from newspapers, magazines and television and are looking at Twitter to get nearly instant access to any and all categories of information.

I still shy away from other social media that I feel are intrusive and invasive, but as a way to better my knowledge of what is going on in the wine world, I have begrudgingly accepted the fact that this Twitter thing can be a very beneficial. Along with wine websites like Wine Searcher and my best friend Google, I can research most any subject related to wine that I ever need. Another advantage to this modern media is people giving their seemingly unbiased opinion on most every type of wine from all parts of the wine world. I don’t always agree with these opinions, but I haven’t always agreed with Mr. Parker, Suckling, Molesworth or the rest either.

If you would have told me 10, five or even two years ago that I would be lauding the world of Twitter, I would certainly have laughed at you. I must admit--stop laughing Chris Gwaltney--that you can definitely derive much info in those minimal 140 characters. So if you are also one of those anti-Twitites, like I was, take the plunge and give it a chance. Sometimes new is good. 

Ken Amendola ABC Fine Wine & Spirits wine supervisor

Follow me on Twitter @abcwinekena