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

Last weekend Second Glass journeyed down to the Newport Wine Fest, a seriously swanky event pouring lots of the good stuff by the water’s edge.  But rather than sticking to the traditional method of pen-and-paper wine guides or resorting to mnemonic devices to remember their wines, Newport-ians upgraded their wine tasting game with some mobile technology. At the event some 128 tasters used the Second Glass Mobile App to write nearly 1,000 wine reviews for the more than 300 wines in attendance! The App allowed visitors to see what wines were being poured, rate what they were tasting, and remember their favorites. Best of all, these favorites will never be more than a touch away, saved forever in their own personal Second Glass vault.

However the friendly folks of Newport aren’t keeping their favorites a secret.  The App allows users to share their reviews with their Facebook friends and even see what their friends like!  So which wines made the biggest splash at Newport? Well, the New England Wines held down the fort and rep’d the hometown pride with a few highly rated Vidal Blanc’s. For the most part, the intense heat sent Newportians flocking to and favoring the white wines.  Nonetheless, some big reds came out on top including spicy picks from Mendoza and Napa Valley. Despite being famous for it’s mansions, Newport’s vibe was totally down-to-earth and was a super chill place to explore some new wines. I mean, where else can you spend a weekend sipping $9 table wine next to a $5.4 million yacht?

Wine riot wine just arrived on Boston shores, and I know what you're thinking, "How can I party with Wine Riot Wine?"  Well lucky for you we have the skinny on where Wine Riot Red will be available.  Grab a bottle this Friday and enjoy with some casual weekend BBQ, or skip the BBQ and just get down with this bad-ass wine!

Secret Locations: Boston Wine Exchange Clarendon Wine Downtown Wine and Spirits Somerville D&L Liquors Giles Liquors Upper Falls Liquors Main Street Wine & Spirits Julios Liquors The Wine Cask Brewster's Wine Cellar Elm Associates

See what people have already been saying about the 90+ Cellars Lot 34 Wine Riot Red!  Once you get your own bottle (or five)  let us know what you think by rating it on the Second Glass App or secondglass.com!   We'd love to hear from you!

The hip and artsy Pier 59 studios in Santa Monica played host to the Rhone Rangers L.A. tasting this past Sunday. And our Event App was a huge hit! Rhone blends were poured for the little over 300 in attendance, our app was working over time and the excitement was in the air! The top picks were awarded to Treana and Vina Robles Wineries out of Paso Robles!! Treana 'Troublemaker' Red blend, Vina Robles Syrah Syree, and Treana White Blend stole the first, second and third titles, respectively. It was no surprise to see the food truck parked right outside the event, a Los Angeles staple. Did I mention the sliders were AMAZING and paired terrifically with Cypher Winery Anarchy? Kudos to Rhone Rangers for putting on a hip event and giving people an excuse to drink wine and visit Santa Monica! Check out the top wines from Rhone Rangers LA Tasting event HERE

Attention, wine country explorers: Today is the day we officially launch the new Tasting Room App to the world! We’re incredibly stoked to be partnering with Paso Robles to bring our new technology to nearly 140 wineries across California, and that’s just the beginning! Get ready as we launch our Tasting Room App in wine regions across the country. We designed the App to function like it does at events like Wine Riot, but now with wines you try in tasting rooms. Wines are preloaded into our system so you can show up to a winery ready to rock and roll: access tasting room lists instantly on your phone and easily mark wines and save them to your “My Wines” forever. We don’t just hook you up in the tasting rooms, we help you get there in the first place. Whether you decided to take a wine tasting weekend with your closest friends, or made an impulse move and gunned it to 88 towards Paso, you’re gonna need more information on these wineries to do this trip right. Keeping that in mind, Second Glass got you covered with up to date winery hours, contact info, and driving directions straight to the tasting room. Browse wineries by distance and find the tasting rooms closest to you, or check tasting lists and base your trip on who’s pouring what wines. Best of all, we use Friend Connect to show you what your friends are drinking and which wineries they visited, updated instantly and listed alongside the wines! Stay in the know with the people you trust. Go boldly forth and try that Dessert Zin that Anthony likes, or steer clear of whatever Aunt Mindy is drinking...

We’re stoked to be working with Paso Robles, that sunny oasis halfway between San Francisco and LA, and we’re planning on expanding all over so count on us showing up in a wine region near you! Make sure to update or download the App to get the Tasting Room App and start your wine country adventure.

Back in October 2010 we partnered with 90+ Cellars to host a very cool lounge for Wine Riot Boston! Attendees sampled five different mystery wines and were told the winner would be made into the OFFICIAL 90+ Wine Riot Wine! Well, its been a long wait, but the bottles finally arrived today!

So how did this wonder wine come about? At the October 2010 Boston Wine Riot, The 90+ Cellars crew took over the lounge,  labeling five bottles A through E and inviting tasters to rate their favorite using the Second Glass Mobile App. So which was your favorite, and crowned victor of the Wine Riot label?

The winner was awesome Australia blend of cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot, and petit verdot. Congrats Boston on your excellent taste! Priced at just $14.99 a bottle, the wine JUST arrived in Boston's port today, but should be in stores across they city in the next few weeks!

TBA are details on a launch party set for Thursday August 25th!