Everything You Need to Host an Easy Virtual Wine Tasting
Our enthusiasm for wine is rooted in sharing great bottles with family and friends.
This requires a little more creativity during this unprecedented time when we are asked to limit social engagement.
We did some research, and found a way to put together a fun, engaging virtual wine tasting that doesn’t require much effort. Here is what we did.
Step 1: Select the wine
Your wine selection will be influenced by where the wine is going. Can you deliver a bottle to a friend who lives locally, or will you be shipping it to someone out of town?
Our first virtual tasting was with friends who live near us in San Diego. We had such a fun time that we are doing it again for Mother’s Day. Our moms both live out of town, so we shipped wine to them.
Sharing Locally
As small business owners ourselves, we generally have a practice to support local.
We reached out to our friend, Roberto Avila, at Wine Xplorer to assist with selecting a couple of bottles. After providing a few criteria (wine region outside CA, big, well-integrated flavors, flexible on varietal), he helped us select from his collection an Italian Red (CIU CIU, Gotico, Rosso Piceno Superiore 2015) and a bottle from Mexico’s Valle de Guadalupe (Legat Tinto De Frannes 2014). He even delivered the wine to us, along with a wine notes sheet for each bottle. This was very helpful for our pairing plans!
In an effort to bolster revenue for restaurants, bars, retail shops, many areas have relaxed restrictions on alcohol “to-go” and delivery options during ‘shelter in place’ orders for those with a license to sell alcohol. Purchasing bottles from them to share with friends through virtual wine tastings is a great way to support local business during this time. If you’re looking to purchase alcohol from your local retailer or restaurant, be sure to check your current local laws first. Rules vary state by state, and change as your local orders are updated.
Shipping Wine
This is as easy as finding your favorite winery and placing an order.
For the virtual tasting with our moms, we ordered each of us a “Tasting Kit” from Husch Vineyards. Husch is the oldest winery in Anderson Valley, owned and operated by the 3rd generation of the Oswald family.
The kit includes five 375ml bottles: ‘18 Sauvignon Blanc, ‘18 Chardonnay, ‘18 Chenin Blanc, ‘18 Pinot Noir, and ‘17 Cabernet Sauvignon. Our kit included a corkscrew, though the current advertised kit states it includes a stemless logo glass.
Pro-tip: Don’t forget to order the same wine for yourself! We almost forgot to do this, which would be a buzzkill when you tried to do a virtual tasting!
Step 2: Deliver the wine
It felt a bit like being Santa with our local friends.
We contacted our friends beforehand to make sure they would be home, letting them know we had “something to drop off outside their door and don’t want it to hang outside too long!”
Husch made it easy to send wine to our moms. The total cost of this kit is just $59 plus $1 for shipping (does not apply to AK, AL, AR, HI, IN, MS, NJ, SD, UT). Depending on your location, if you order quickly, there still may be time to receive for the weekend. You, too, can do a tasting with your Mom this weekend—or with your friends!
Once the bottles were delivered, we sent an invite for the virtual tasting, challenging our friends and moms to come up with a fun appetizer pairing!
Step 3: Share the bottle!
With wine delivered and a date picked, the next step is to connect, taste, and eat!
For our local friends, we popped the bottle, connected on FaceTime, talked about the wine and what each of us brought for the pairing. While certainly not the same as sharing a bottle in person, it was definitely a fun, engaging way to connect with friends… and drink great wine!
We have the same general plan for our upcoming Mother’s Day tastings.
Attend your own virtual tasting
While physical distancing orders may be in effect in most areas through the month of May, and possibly longer, there are ways we can socially connect—especially with wine!
How are you sharing a bottle with friends and family? Need some inspiration? Here’s a list of 50+ CA wineries hosting virtual tasting in May—everything from chats with winemakers to chefs doing cooking demonstrations for wine pairings.
Leave us a comment—we would love to hear your ideas as well!
