We here at Second Glass are huge wine enthusiasts and always eager to learn more, so in the spirit of wine education we’ve expanded our weekly Friday meeting (previously focused on company projects and metrics) to include an informal wine presentation given by one member of our team. It’s an awesome way to research a favorite place or grape and share those stories, plus getting together to drink delicious wine at 5 p.m. is a hell of a way to kick off the weekend.

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Oh, the holiday season. A time where wine drinking isn't just encouraged, it's pretty much mandatory. Buying wine for the holidays is a yearly rite of passage, so where do you go to stock up on your favorite wines without the wild goose chase to find them? Download or update the Second Glass app!

Conquer the season with the Holiday Wine Finder. We've got a cool holiday wine buying guide with pro tips and recommendations. No randos in here -- these are all recommendations based on what you and your friends like! We took the 750 different wines that were poured at all five Wine Riots in 2011 and plugged them into our holiday recommendation engine. Then we partnered with over 150 wine stores in 10 states to create the perfect match! Just click on a holiday to see helpful info for choosing a wine to fit that occasion. We suggest wines based on your previous "liked" and "loved" wines, plus some helpful rec's from your Facebook friends. Here you can click on the store where you can buy that wine! Plus we'll link you up with directions. You'll also get even more recommendations based on what you just picked. Furthermore if you came to a Wine Riot and you marked wines in the app, you can now see where you can by them in stores nearby! We've expanded the store locator app to work in every Wine Riot city across the country. Click on your My Wines and you'll be able to see where the wine you want is being sold and find out where you can buy that wine!

We know your first thoughts after Wine Riot (besides, "Why did I do that in the photo booth…?") are "Where can I get some more of that wine?!!" Well luckily for you, we're bustin' out a new mobile app feature that tells you just that! Introducing our new Store Connect feature on the Second Glass App. We worked with over 20 stores in the DC area to find out where you can buy the wines you tried at Wine Riot DC! Just head to your marked wines, click on your favorite and check out the stores where it's being sold. You'll also be able to see what other of your liked wines are available, plus check out which wines your Facebook friends liked! With this new feature you're officially armed every step of the way: from the moment that wine hits your lips, to now victoriously buying every bottle in stock at your local wine shop. Now go forth and wine shop for the holidays like a pro!

We <3 NY! Second Glass' Wine Riot hit Brooklyn on September 22-23 for its 4th stop on the national tour. Attendees braved apocalyptic events to get to the Riot, including torrential rains, subway delays and cancellations, floods, fires, plagues, and the traffic-halting presence of basically the entire UN council and Obama (who unfortunately had previous obligations, otherwise would have totally gone to Wine Riot). The party went down at Skylight One Hanson, an old bank with vaulted ceilings, awesome ironwork, marble details, and oh, a massive safe with three-foot-thick walls of solid steel (putting every bank heist movie we've ever seen into perspective.) Attendees totally rocked it on the mobile app and made close to 5,900 reviews! Overall almost half of people at Wine Riot used the app to rate and remember their favorite wines. Droid users were especially ecstatic to see the debut of the mobile app for Android, hot off the press from our talented tech team. With the app we tracked which wines were the most popular based on highest reviews and most liked by the majority of the crowd. Check out each city's top wines here. Rioters took over 1,000 pictures in the photo booth, covered their bods with more than 350 sheets of tattoos, and killed over 1,200 bottles of wine in a single weekend. We had crash courses led by Cameron Hughes, Esporao, Quady, Charles Krug, Dr. Loosen and Olé Imports. There also may or may not have been dancing by the Heredad Lounge... Other highlights involve local celebrity sightings of the Professional Wingman and his protégé for the night, and the dazzling presence of Spanish winemaker Gloria Collell who was holding it down in the Heredad Lounge. There rioters took a tour of Spain, tasted their way through five Iberian wine regions and sent over 250 postcards, including 20 overseas to Spain, Italy, Canada, China, Japan, New Zealand and Australia, and of course countless home to mom. Next up on the Wine Riot tour: Washington DC! We are headed there October 21-22 at the DAR Constitution Hall. We will be taking over the jumbotron with real-time displays of reviews made on the app as well as the list of top wines on the big screen. DC’s vibrant wine culture and massive crew of Millennials will be a great atmosphere for Wine Riot. To stay up to date, be sure to check out our city specific Facebook and Twitter accounts. Washington DC @SecondGlass and follow #WineRiot for more real time updates about DC! Facebook We also have several plans in the works to make our mobile app bigger and badder than ever, so look forward to some awesome new changes when DC rolls around!

Wine Riot is all about learning about wine, gettin' your knowledge on and having fun, but it's also about victory: that championship spirit that leads drinkers to toast their glasses high and conquer the riot. It's that competitive edge that the spartans at United Social Sports in Washington DC are all about.

That's why we're super excited to be teaming up with the crew at USS for this year's Wine Riot! Just as we had awesome success partnering with Social Boston Sports in Boston, these glorious athletes are perfect candidates to come riot victoriously and drink more wine. To reward to the winners of each weekly tournament for their valiant efforts on the battlefield, we're giving the entire squad tickets to Wine Riot DC! We can't wait to see that competitive edge channeled towards drinking wine (a challenge that, we anticipate, will be wholeheartedly accepted). USS brings together friends and groups to compete in a wide range of sports and activities. From skeeball to scavenger hunts, U.S.S. takes care of all the organizing, so all you have to do is show up and rage! They still have spots left in the leagues to play skeeball, bocce ball, corn hole, shuffleboard and of course, beer pong. Registration closes TOMORROW Friday the 30th, so make sure to get in there!

Best Dressed. Everyone secretly (or openly) wants to be acknowledged for their kick ass and original style. Whether its a compliment about your shoes, earrings or your whole ensemble…you always walk away feeling like a badass when someone gives you props. Well guess what…you have a chance to feel like even more of a badass at Wine Riot NYC. We're partnering up with Market Publique to highlight the best of the best when it comes to New York Style. Market Publique will be armed with a camera all night, taking pictures of some of the best outfits. After the event you can vote on who is the best dressed at Wine Riot and win $40 to splurge at Market Publique. Don't have tickets yet to show off your best duds? Like Second Glass and Market Publique on Facebook and comment/like the post about the contest. One lucky winner will be chose at random to win a pair of tickets to Opening Night! Throw on your best sling backs, dust off that blazer and get ready to Riot in style!

September is a month when you're makin' moves and takin’ names. You ditch the swim trunks in favor of fall gear and adopt a back-to-school, nose-to-the-grindstone, kick-ass work ethic. Not to mention ascend to the ranks of Spartan athletes, primed and ready for weekends of Olympian proportions. It’s what you’ve been training for all summer long, right? Your ultimate wine, beer and food triathlon kicks off Friday, September 23rd at Wine Riot New York Opening Night, where you sip and swirl your way to VIP status. Reap the glory of free Taza Chocolate and head to the lounge where you can travel the region of Spain without leaving New York, and even send postcards to your family and friends!

Next day, soak up some culture with NYC’s free-museum Saturdays. Hundreds of museums across the country are participating in this mind-expanding adventure, sponsored by the Smithsonian. You can do a second round of Wine Riot at Riot 2, or switch it up and do wine in the morning, museum at night. You might as well make your entire Saturday a crowning achievement with more wine, tattoos and photographic evidence of your epic triumph.

But your weekend barely stops there. Since you’re a pro, wake up Sunday morning and take on Brooklyn Beefsteak. We’re talking heaps of Grade A meat grilled to perfection, washed down with bottomless pints McSorleys ale. Come prepared to get your hands dirty: you won’t find a utensil in the place. To those Olympians who successfully conquer all three days: consider yourself an unofficial member of the Second Glass Bad-Ass Hall of Fame. Your next high-five's on us.

Paso Robles is one of the sweetest wine regions in central California.  Not only is it home to some out-of-this-world Zins, it’s even conveniently located just about midway between LA and San Francisco.  Really, it’s a required day trip for any wine lover. But with almost 200 wineries spanning both sides of Route 101, where do you begin?

Here are five must-visit wineries in Paso that you simply can not miss:

1. Clayhouse Wines – This first stop right smack in the middle of downtown Paso is a great place to warm up your taste buds. You get a superb selection of wines from casual red, white and rose blends, to the tasting-room-only Estate bottles.

   Pro tip: You can hit up some of the neighboring downtown tasting rooms before lunch.

2. Hope Family Wines – Want to get more tasting for your buck?  Hope Family Wines is home to not one but FIVE wine labels that are ready for sipping all under one roof.  Get a taste of how Paso does everything from Cabernet to Zinfandel.  Their wines have been featured in tons of publications ranging from the LA Times to Playboy Magazine.

   Pro tip: These wineries are in visiting order for easy navigation in a straight line

3. Windward Vineyard – Right next door to Hope Family is Windward, where these guys are Pinot Noir pros. Want to learn a thing or two about wine? Take their tour and learn a ton by sampling a boat load of Pinot Noirs and really pick out all those little subtleties.

   Pro tip: Challenge your unsuspecting friends to a bocce ball game while you drink here!

4. Lone Madrone – This winery is all about local-sourced and sustainable wine growing with a super casual, down to earth vibe. If you ask nicely, you might even be treated to an impromptu library or barrel tasting for those special occasions or “why not?” occasions.  After tasting, check out the local artwork that lines the walls.

   Pro tip: Head next door to Kenneth Volk with your Lone Madrone glass for 50% off their tasting fee

5. Cypher Winery – You need to stop by Cypher Winery for some EPICLY awesome wines with such traditional names as “Anarchy”, “Heretic”, and the tasting-room-only “ZinBitch”. The winemakers at Cypher are some of the coolest people you’ll ever meet. Susan hosts a killer chocolate and wine paring tour in the tasting room, and Christian Tietje is all about making killer wines from killer vines.

MEGA PRO TIP: Wanna keep track of what you’re tasting in Paso and go wine tasting like a pro?  Good, because Paso Robles is now offering the Second Glass Mobile App to help you navigate the region and remember you favorites.

Download the App today and conquer the region by searching “Second Glass” in the App Store!

 

Dear Awesome Second Glass Supporters, I moved to Boston (from France by way of Olympia, WA) on a whim in the spring of 2005 and quickly settled in with the New England lifestyle. I got a full-time job at a university and a part-time job at a wine shop. Being from a family of entrepreneurs I’m always looking for opportunities so it was in the summer of 2006 that I came up with the idea for an unpretentious wine magazine that targeted Boston’s huge, young and educated drinking scene. A few short months later the first edition arrived. Morgan and I drove around in a ZipCar dropping it off to any wine shop or coffee house that promised not to throw it away. Almost immediately the Boston Herald wrote an article, local bloggers began introducing themselves and the restaurant industry started pouring tastes of exotic and cool wines. While my original intention was to only stay in Boston for a few months, I found the city welcoming me and my business with open arms. As Second Glass grew (we dropped the “the” it’s cleaner) Boston continued to support us in bigger and bigger ways. Over 1,300 people came to our first Wine Riot in 2009 and quickly grew into a sell out crowd of close to 3,000 in 2010. At the last Wine Riot in 2011, we had 600 people use our mobile app and collectively make over 10,000 reviews! In separate articles Stuff Magazine named Morgan a "Player" and called me the “prince of Boston’s wine revolution.” Both Morgan and I worked hard to grow the entrepreneurship community. We were board members of the Boston Young Entrepreneurs, run by the City of Boston, Morgan is a connector at Boston World Partnerships and we were both honored and humbled when we received an award from the Governor Patrick for being named Inc Magazine 30 Under 30. I can speak for both Morgan and myself when I say it’s been a joy to embrace and watch the absolutely fantastic entrepreneurship community in Boston grow into where it is today. With business booming we needed to expand the company. Over the last nine months Morgan and I have been on the road non-stop. I can count on one hand the amount of times I’ve slept in the same bed for more than a week. I’m in Paso Robles, Los Angeles, New York, Santa Rosa, Washington DC, Chicago, Napa, Santa Barbara and Boston on a regular basis, often during the same trip. This is the main reason we’re moving our HQ. Most of our revenue comes from working directly with wineries. We currently have close to 400 customers and over 300 of them are within a three hour drive of San Francisco. The wine industry is a handshake business so we need to be there, all the time. Right now, we’re spending a fortune flying team members back and forth, staying in hotels and renting cars. I’m on a red-eye from LA to Boston tonight with a 10am meeting the next day and can tell you, it’s getting very tiring. As we grow our team we need to have quick and easy access to wine country. With downtown Napa being less than one hour from San Francisco, it’s the natural home. Our technology is also expanding far beyond the Wine Riot events. We’re running our Mobile App at wine events up and down the California Coast, we’re the official Tasting Room App of Paso Robles and we’re in talks with a lot more potential partners. In the United States there are about 7,500 wineries and over 4,500 of them are in California. It just makes good business sense to have a headquarters in San Francisco as we’re developing technology for wineries. Just because we’re moving our HQ does not mean we’re giving up a single inch in Boston. We will continue to have Wine Riot every spring, host events like the growing and expanding Beaujolais Nouveau event this November and we will always be a part of the startup scene. I truly believe Boston is a fantastic place to start a company and I will never stop encouraging entrepreneurs to start their endeavors here. On a personal note, both my parents were born and raised in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. They were the only ones of their friends and relatives to make the move to the big city, Madison, WI. They took risks rarely seen in their circles by taking my brother and I to Europe and Asia for family vacations. They encouraged us to not only go and see the world but to make it our own. I’ve taken this in stride by living all over the US and world, but now it’s time for me to push my company in the same way. It’s time for Second Glass to go out into the world and become the company we all know it can be. It’s time for Second Glass to truly go national! Like a kid going to college we’ll always be from Boston. This will always be our hometown, Eastern Standard and Trina’s will always be “our bar” and Westport Rivers Winery will always be our favorite sparkling wine. Being from Boston is something that no one can ever take away from us and just like that kid going to college, we will always come back, probably at the last minute and probably more often than you want! Sincerely, Tyler Balliet Founder, President Second Glass