What’s better than relaxing at home and treating yourself to wine? Inviting a few friends to join for a fun wine tasting! While this is normally an in-person affair, you and your friends can come together from the comfort of your own homes thanks to video call platforms like Zoom and FaceTime.
Hillside Winery offers a unique selection of its best-selling wines in easy-to-order packs with bottles sold in increments of six. Customers can place orders online for their pack of choice.
1. Visit shop.rockytopwineries.com.
2. Choose the quantity of your preferred wine pack and proceed with checkout.
Pretty simple, right? Now, let’s talk about a few details for planning and hosting a virtual wine tasting.
Planning Your Virtual Gathering
Putting together your own virtual tasting may sound intimidating if you’re new to this activity or hosting any small party. But don’t get cold feet! The planning process is straightforward and will make hosting a breeze when done right.
1. Securing a Day and Time
As you know, enjoying wine at home is best done toward the end of the day. Talk with your friends to decide when would it work best around dinnertime for you all to do your tasting.
2. Choosing a Video Call Platform
There are a variety of video call platforms to choose from. Zoom has become the most popular nowadays. Deciding what to use boils down to which platform works best for everyone in your group to access and navigate.
Don’t worry if you or your friends aren’t that savvy when it comes to technology. Check out the short tutorials below for the platform you’d like to use. If using a phone to do your video call, consider getting a smartphone tripod to secure it in a good position as you host.
- Learn how to host and share with friends how to join a Zoom meeting.
- Learn how to host and share with friends how to join a Google Meet meeting.
- Learn how to host and share with friends how to join a Microsoft Teams meeting.
- Learn how to use Facebook Messenger for group calls.
- Learn how to use FaceTime for group calls.
3. Picking a Theme
There are many great wines to choose for your virtual tasting. Having a theme will help you narrow down which selections to include and think of ideas to make your gathering more fun. You can choose a wine theme according to a producer, region, vintage, or variety (e.g., white, red, sparkling, fruit).
4. Finding Glassware
When you’re searching for the right glasses, it’s important to remember that wider cups allow you to smell more of a wine’s aromatic elements. The more you can smell your wine, the more you can experience its taste. But some varieties like Champagne taste better when served in flutes. So do your research about which glasses are best for certain wine.
5. Taking Notes
Your group will also need writing utensils and a notepad or some kind of wine tasting sheet. One of the main components of tasting is discussing your observations. Each person needs to be able to keep track of what they notice about things like a wine’s smell, taste, and appearance.
Hosting Your Virtual Wine Tasting
Remember, hosting your virtual wine tasting is supposed to be a fun (and educational) gathering. This is a time to relax, laugh, and boost your wine knowledge with the great company of your friends. Here’s how the activities typically flow.
1. Order of Wine Tasting
You and your friends may be tempted to start with whichever wine is your favorite or seems the most interesting. But the order of your wines does have an impact on your tasting experience. For white wines, it’s recommended to start with the dry selections and work your way to the ones that are sweet. For red wines, it’s recommended to go from the light-bodied selections to the full-bodied.
2. Assessment of Unique Traits
If your group takes time to choose a good range of wine based on your theme, you all are in for quite a rich sensory experience. When you purchase from Rocky Top Wineries, you can try varieties like Hillside Winery’s Black and Blue that pairs blackberries and blueberries, Apple Barn Winery’s Apple Peach, and Mountain Valley Winery’s Mountain Valley Red that blends Concord and other American grapes. Take a few minutes with each wine to savor the aromas and primary flavors and how long they last in your senses. And make sure to note your observations to discuss.
3. Discussion of Top Picks
One of the goals with wine tasting is to discover the selections that you love. After assessment, it’s time for a group discussion to learn what everyone thought about each wines’ qualities. Sharing your favorite selections is also an interesting way for you and your friends to learn more about each other’s personal qualities.
4. Wrap-Up with Food Pairings
The only thing better than a virtual wine tasting is enjoying it with good food. You and your friends can pair some appetizer-like food such as cheese and crackers or desserts that you have at home with your wine to figure which combinations you enjoy. Afterward, you all can close out your time together with happy palettes and great memories.
