Giveaway: 2 Tickets to Boston Travel Show & Craft Beer Tasting

The Boston Globe Travel Show is coming to the Boston Seaport this weekend February 10-12, 2017.

I've been given 2 tickets to the Northeast Craft Beer Pavilion Session A on Friday February 10 from 6-8:30PM (a $70 value) to give away. These tickets include admission to the Boston Globe Travel Show. Because the Beer Pavilion is 21+ entrants and their guest must be 21 years or older. A form of ID will be required to pick up the tickets at will call along with entering the Beer Pavilion the day of the show.

I'll choose a winner at random from the entries.

Two ways to enter: 

1. Leave a comment on this blog post saying you'd like to be entered in the drawing
2. Tweet a link to this post

If you leave a comment and tweet a link you'll get 2 entries, increasing your chances of winning.

Contest closes Tuesday February 7th at 11:59pm eastern time.
Winner will be announced Wednesday morning by 9:00a.

Some highlights throughout the weekend include:

• 3 sampling sessions and a Sunday Lord Hobo’s Brunch Bites & Brews at the Northeast Craft Beer Pavilion with tastings of nearly 100 beers and ciders from over 40 breweries
• 1,000 Places to See Before You Die author Patricia Schultz will be hosting a two seminars: “Emerging Destinations: Iran, Cuba, Myanmar and Antarctica,” and "U.S. & Canada."
• Pauline Frommer, Editorial Director of Frommer Travel Guides and award-winning travel journalist, will be speaking about "Insider Tips for Creating Great Vacations in All Price Ranges”
• Boston Globe travel writer Chris Muther will give his tips for "The Digital Traveler: Best Apps, Photos & Travel Products"
• Cultural dancer performances from the Philippines and Dominican Republic, including showing you some basic steps of Merengue and Bachata

Here's info on the breweries:

And here's my in depth guide to the show:

Questions or comments? Drop me an email or ping me on Twitter @RobertDwyer

I'll look forward to selecting a winner from the comments and tweets.

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Deal and Giveaway: A $55 Wine Enthusiast Voucher from BuyWithMe

Group buying site BuyWithMe is offering a $55 voucher for Wine Enthusiast for $25.

Click here to check out the deal.

Deal ends Sunday February 13th at 11:59 pm EST.

If you've never bought a voucher from a service like BuyWithMe, Groupon, LivingSocial or others I wouldn't be worried about whether it's legit.  If it seems strange I think I know how you feel.  I felt the same way the first time I heard about them.  But after taking advantage of a number of these deals I haven't had a deal go south on me.  You just have to read the terms of the deal and decide whether it works for you.

For this one I think the terms are favorable.  The $55 voucher can even be used towards shipping and some items qualify for free shipping if you order $95 worth of merchandise.

In conjunction with this deal, BuyWithMe has given me one voucher to give away - more on that at the end of this post.

I thought it would be helpful to put together a list of wine accessories for your consideration.  Here are some things that catch my eye:

Riedel Vinum Cabernet/Merlot/Bordeaux Wine Glasses (Set of 2)

For me, Riedel's Vinum line represents the benchmark against which all other wine glasses are measured.  The shapes of the stems and the styling is spot-on classic.

It's really difficult to catch Riedel stemware at a discount so this BuyWithMe offer presents a good opportunity to catch these glasses at a good price.

Ravi Instant Wine Chiller

If you're a white wine drinker -or- you live in a warmer climate the Ravi Instant Wine Chiller is a product you might find useful.  If you have a single temperature wine refrigerator (or wine cellar) and you want to take white wine out and enjoy it immediately, the Ravi can drop the temperature 10-20F.

If you keep red wine at room temperatures that approach 80F alcohol will tend to dominate.  Dropping the temperature down closer to 65F can really make the wine shine.  The Ravi can help in this scenario as well.

Full review here.

Screwpull Waiter Style Corkscrew

Corkscrews have to be some of the most overpriced/overthought wine accessories on the market.  Whenever someone comes at me with a winged device or anything that doesn't fit in your pocket I get scared.  Opening wine is easy - all you need is a waiter's corkscrew and you're set.

I like this one because Screwpull makes good stuff and the double-hinged feature is handy.  Check it out.

Riedel Merlot Wine Decanter

At their core, wine decanters are pretty simple devices.  You want to expose more surface area of the wine to air than what a wine bottle would normally provide -and- you want to give sediment an area to settle within so it doesn't wind up in your glass.  This one from Riedel costs only $25.95.  A good opportunity to snag your first wine decanter -or- stock up if you find yourself in situations where you need to decant multiple bottles simultaneously.

EuroCave Comfort 266 Wine Cellar (1-Temp) (Black - Solid Door)

Okay, it's a stretch to think you'd use a $55 voucher to buy a wine refrigerator that costs a couple thousand dollars.  But I bought one of these a few years ago and I've been very pleased with it.  The best way to get a deal on a EuroCave?  Call them up, ask for Marshall, and tell him you're ready to buy right now.  Ask them to give you the best deal possible.  Shoot for 15% off and free shipping and see what they say.  As with many retailers, it's difficult to get a great price -and- free shipping but it never hurts to ask.


Okay, here's how to enter the giveaway.  Just leave a comment below saying you'd like to be entered by 5 pm PST Friday February 11th 2011.  I'll then pass along the $55 Wine Enthusiast BuyWithMe voucher as a gift.

Prefer to keep it on the down low?  No problem - just drop me an E-mail saying you'd like to be entered in this giveaway: wellesleywinepress@gmail.com

To improve your chances of winning, include a link in your comment to a specific item on the Wine Enthusiast website that you think is a good play for use with this voucher.

Winner will be chosen by random drawing and announced Saturday morning.  Good luck, and please spread the word on Facebook and Twitter by using the buttons below.

Disclosure: I participate in both the Wine Enthusiast and BuyWithMe affiliate programs and BuyWithMe provided this voucher for me to give away.

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