Slideshow: Toast to the Drink Local Wine Conference in Baltimore

The top trending hashtag on Twitter April 13 wasn’t related to Tiger Woods’ penalty at the Masters.
 
It was #dlw13, which represents the 2013 Drink Local Wine Conference held at the Tremont Grand Historic Venue in downtown Baltimore and at Camden Yards. About 425 wine enthusiasts, vintners and bloggers came to taste Maryland wines and learn more about the local industry. They came as far away as New York, Georgia, North Carolina and California to attend the event, sponsored by the Maryland Wineries Association.
 
“Our tweets and updates quickly became the leading trend on Twitter — above even Tiger Woods and his two-stroke penalty at the Masters or Kobe Bryant’s ruptured Achilles tendon,” writes DrinkLocalWine.com co-founder Dave McIntyre on his blog.  “We realized something was happening when advertisements began popping up on #dlw13 and #mdwine.”
 
McIntyre, a Washington Post columnist, was one of the conference speakers, along with Chef Jerry Pellegrino of Waterfront Kitchen, WYPR’s Al Spoler, Black Ankle Vineyards Founder Ed Boyce and others.
 
The day ended with a Twitter Taste-Off, where conference attendees and the general public tasted wines made by nearly two-dozen Maryland and Virginia wineries. These included Carroll County’s Old Westminster Winery, which is launching June 8; Basignani Winery in Sparks; Port of Leonardtown Winery in Southern Maryland; and, Boordy Vineyards in Hydes. And of course, wine aficionados tweeted about their favorite pours.
 
BmoreMedia Managing Photographer Steve Ruark captured the action at the Twitter Taste-Off in this photo slideshow below.

- Julekha Dash