YOUR GUIDE TO VIRTUAL

Virtual Wine Tasting

Amid an ever-changing landscape, the only thing certain is that we need to get creative when it comes to doing the things we love. With a strong emphasis on staying home and social distancing still in place, virtual wine tastings are the in-thing. Thanks to the likes of Zoom and FaceTime, we can still socialise and sip wines with friends from the safety of our sanitised homes. Plus, some smart wine farms are adapting their offerings to suit our new COVID way of life.

To help you out (and help you stay sane) we map out a few tips on how to host your own virtual wine tasting below. All you need is a couple of friends, a few bottles of wine, a notepad, a laptop, and you’re all set.

Six Tips to Hosting a Virtual Wine Tasting

1. Keep Numbers Small: Contact your friends and set up a suitable time that works for everyone. Four to eight people is an ideal number for a virtual tasting. Anything more than 10 and the virtual space gets a little crowded and conversations become hard to follow. Once you’ve set a date, you can send a calendar invite so that each friend has it in his or her diaries. Put aside two hours or so for the tasting. Be flexible with the timings, and let those who want to jump off early or stick around longer feel free to do so.

2. Pick Your Tech: Any smartphone, tablet, or computer with a camera will do. A smartphone or tablet is easier if you want to move around during the call, but if you want to stay put at your dining room table or kitchen island, a laptop is ideal. Just be sure that your device is updated to the most recent operating system so that apps will run smoothly. Make sure your device is fully charged and keep your cables close by in case you need to boost your battery during the tasting. 3. Choose a Platform: Once you’re all set up with your chosen device, it’s time to choose an application. Two of the most popular choices are Zoom and FaceTime. This is mostly because both options are very user-friendly and free. If you’ve never used either of these, there are plenty of online tutorials and videos to help you set up a group call. If just the thought of switching on a laptop has your head spinning, ask a tech-savvy son, daughter or neighbour to help out. Naturally, a glass of wine makes a good bribe (if they’re over 18).

4. Choose Your Wine: Next, choose wines that you’d like to taste throughout your virtual tasting. Perhaps you want to pick a couple of the same varietals or maybe the same wine from different vintages. Start with tasting 4-8 wines. You’ll want to send the wines to friends or give them a list to acquire their own a few days ahead of the tasting. The Wine-of-the-Month Club’s customer service team can help you select wines and deliver them straight to each participant’s home. 5. Have Glassware Ready: Yup, you’ll need a different glass for each wine. If they don’t match, no one will see (perhaps a bonus of a virtual tasting). Since you’re all at home and won’t have to drive anywhere afterwards you don’t have to use a spittoon (and that’s an even bigger bonus). Oh, and don’t forget to have a couple of dry crackers to help cleanse your palate in between tastings.

6. Take Notes: For a little extra fun, take notes on the wines you are tasting. Jot down things you notice while swirling and sipping your way through each wine. You can also email your friends free tasting note templates that are easy enough to find and download online. This way you can all take note of the same things as you make your way through the wines.

Don’t take everything too seriously. Enjoy catching up with friends and chatting while tasting. Don’t have too many rules, as it will start to feel stiff. Let the wine and conversation flow. Don’t put pressure on yourself to host the best virtual tasting of all time. There will be tech glitches; cats in front of the screens and Marg will keep talking even tough her mic is muted. See how it unfolds and change things up as you go. Who knows, maybe this becomes a weekly or monthly social distancing get-together. And wine not?

Five Wine Farms OFFering virtual tastings

If you don’t feel like organizing everything yourself, many wine farms are getting creative and offering home tasting kits as well as virtual wine tastings. Here are a few to try:

MusiC to our ears

Creation Wines have created virtual experiences to allow fans of the farm to enjoy a tasting in the comfort of their own homes. Choose between the Creation Virtual Tasting pack or the Creation Alchemy Tasting Kit—both of which include six 50ml samples delivered to your door. Select a Creation personal shopper to guide the wine tasting via a Zoom call; or if you opt for the Alchemy experience you will receive short videos introducing the six wines in the kit as well as a dedicated Creation Spotify playlist to fully immerse yourself in Creation’s wines. Virtual tastings start at R350. Visit: www.creationwines.com

ConstantIa Comes to You

steenBerg Cellar has adapted to the times with its @ Home Offering. This popular Constantia winery quickly realised that while their customers were happy to be buying their wines once again, many were missing the tasting-room experience. So Steenberg introduced three unique virtual tastings, which include mixed case deliveries of the farm’s wine, together with QR codes to videos of cellar master Elunda Basson guiding customers through the tasting. To book your virtual tasting experience, visit www.steenbergfarm.com

Customised tastings

Spoilt for choice, you can choose from la Motte’s full range of classic, premium and exclusive wines to make up your virtual wine tasting selection. Depending on the wines you choose to taste, one of the estate’s wine tasting ambassadors will customise your tasting accordingly. Order your wines online and qualify for a free virtual tasting when you order 12 bottles. Visit www.la-motte.com

a Virtual leap

As a popular family-oriented destination, leopard’s leap boasts tasting facilities, delicious food offerings, culinary tutoring and, of course, beautiful views and grounds. Now, they invite wine lovers for an informal online introduction to the Leopard’s Leap wine range—of course from the comfort of your own home. Purchase 12 bottles for delivery in South Africa and you qualify for a free virtual tasting. Go to www.leopardsleap.co.za

Fun and InFormatIve

Breedekloof’s Deetlefs is now offering fun, informative and Covid-friendly online wine tastings to enjoy with your friends and family. Each participant will receive Zoom login details and 6 bottles of wine selected by the farm and delivered straight to their door. Go to www.deetlefs.com.