Before this year, I’m not sure if I ever took part in an online wine tasting or frankly even heard of one.
Not anymore.
In the past few months, I have “attended” many online wine tastings with friends and winemakers.
At first, I didn’t always feel comfortable tasting wine while sitting in front of a computer. Who would frankly? I’m sure most of us would prefer to be sharing a few drinks face to face in person. But that’s not always possible.
But that doesn’t mean you have to wait to see friends or family members to share some wine with them. That’s why I thought I would share a few thoughts about hosting or organizing an online wine tasting.
Let me add there’s no right or wrong way to taste wine online with friends. This isn’t one of those “this is the only way” or “the best way” to do something articles. I hate reading those know-it-all rule books and I hope you don’t think I’m trying to be some sort of hall monitor telling you what to do.
Always remember that tasting wine should be fun.
Always.
So with that in mind, here are five suggestions (not rules) for hosting a fun, online wine tasting with friends.
1) Drink the same wines
If possible, buy the exact same wines ahead of time. That way, when you’re tasting the wine with friends, you will both have the same wines at the same time. I realize this is not always possible, especially if you live far away from each other and can’t find the same wines in different stores. But if you can, I definitely recommend doing this. It makes the people you’re sharing the wine with feel so much closer throughout the tasting.
2) Keep It Small
I know it might be tempting to taste several different wines with a large group of friends online. But I have found that the best tastings are often the smallest ones. And I’m not just talking about the number of people. I’m also talking about the number of wines you share together. My advice would be to taste one to three wines with another couple. That way, everyone will have plenty of time to taste and talk about the wines together.
3) Have some snacks
This might not seem that important right now. But trust me. Once you start tasting a few wines and talking to each other, you’ll likely get pretty hungry. You don’t have a prepare “Babette’s Feast.” Even a jar of nuts will do just fine. But if you are planning ahead, my advice would be a pick out two or three nice cheeses (especially hard ones, which often go great with many wines) as well as some olives, sliced meats and dark chocolate.
4) Make yourself comfortable
I realize you might not have a choice if your computer is permanently set up on your desk or somewhere else in your house. But if you have a laptop or can use your cellphone for your tasting, I highly recommend doing so. That way, you can sit on a couch or somewhere else comfortable inside or even outside if possible. Believe me. Sharing a bottle of wine online with friends while seated in your backyard can be quite a nice way to end the day.
5) Talk about the wines... if you want
This last bit of advice can be taken with a grain of salt - or a glass of wine. I’m not saying you have to spend the entire time online with friends talking about the wine. But you might as well talk a little bit about it, especially if you both went to the trouble to buy the same wines. That’s what I did recently with two sets of friends. Below, you can find my tasting notes for these four, red wines.
2017 Vina Zorzal Graciano ($12.99 at Provisions in Northampton)
This dry, refreshing, robust red wine from Spain’s Navarra region was a real crowd pleaser. All of us enjoyed this earthy wine’s long, deep finish with hints of fresh blackberries and dark chocolate. In fact, we enjoyed it so much, my notes for this intense, wonderful wine were definitely shorter than normal.
2018 La Cabotte Colline Cotes Du Rhone ($14.99 at Provisions)
France’s Rhone region is filled with wonderful wineries producing many affordable, complex wines. This delightful blend of Grenache and Syrah grapes was a smooth start to another, fun online tasting with friends. Some thought this wine was slightly sweet at first. I thought it had a velvety finish with a slightly plummy finish. Let me add this wine didn’t taste nearly as great the second day. But I think that had more to do with the friends we shared the wine with online the night before.
2016 Valdibella Acamante Perricone ($14.99 at Provisions)
The star of the tasting, this voluptuous, powerful wine from the Italian island of Sicily blew everyone away with its intense, earthy flavors. A bit spicy at times for some people, I was especially impressed by its well-balanced, ripe fruit flavors, especially hints of plum. You could also smell this wine’s wonderful aromas the most. And let me add that this wine tasted just as terrific the second day.
2018 Judith Beck Beck Ink Zweigelt ($14.99 at Provisions)
Definitely the most unique wine of the tasting, this distinct Austrian red wine was unlike any of the other wines I tried recently with friends online, for better and for worse. This wine has almost effervescent quality you don’t usually associate with red wines. It also had a slightly lemon-like flavor and even tasted a bit like grape juice, which shouldn’t be that unusual since wine is made with grapes. But this wine’s quirky personality grew on me. And the next day, the wine had just as much character and just as much to say as the day before - which is always a great sign of a good wine and even better friends.
Cheers!
Wine Press by Ken Ross appears on Masslive.com every Monday and in The Republican’s weekend section every Thursday.
Follow Ken Ross on Twitter and Instagram and Facebook.
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