Testimonials
Tastoria is a great way to spend an evening. Everyone gets involved in the wine, food and excitement of the event. Key to this seems to be picking great wines and that has been done by the CEO - Catherine. Go Tastoria! Great idea! Excellent service and product!
Sue Fisher
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Tastoria in the Press
VIRTUAL WINE - The Wokingham Times, Nick Scade, November 2005
February 9th, 2008
“And where do you think you are sneaking off to at 7 o’clock on a Sunday evening?” This was the question my wife posed when she saw me disappearing into my office armed with six opened bottles of wine, a few glasses and a spittoon (actually a large plastic kitchen jug!). “Oh I’m just off to meet a few people for an Italian wine tasting, I’ll be back in an hour and a half” was my rather improbable reply.
Welcome to the world of the virtual wine tasting. I was about to test a brand new service now being offered to wine lovers that combines education and a bit of fun. Just before the appointed hour I logged onto my computer and went to Internet Explorer where I typed in www.virtualwine.co.uk and clicked on a home page link to the wine tasting that was about to start.
Having registered a week or so earlier I had already purchased my wines which had since been delivered by courier together with an access password, a tasting sheet detailing the wines due to be tasted and some suggested foods that would accompany them, together with a map of the Italian wine growing areas and some general background about each region. You have to purchase a minimum of twelve bottles (2 of each wine) so it’s a good idea to team up with a few friends.
As I logged in I was invited to provide a name or nickname if I also wanted to enter the chat room where I would be able to ask questions or make comments about the wines or “chat” with the other participants or the panel - who by this time I could see on screen (you do need a decent broadband connection and Windows Media Player v7 or above for this to all work seamlessly!). The panel consisted of James Booth who came up with the idea. He acted as the Panel Chairman for the evening and was together with Ben Llewelyn, Director of Italian wine specialists Enotria Wine Cellars, Angelo Garofalo, Consultant Executive Chef for the Strada Restaurant Group, Davina Boyle, also from Enotria and Alan Stevens, Media professional and wine enthusiast. James would then proceed to introduce each wine and each panel member would comment starting always with Ben who clearly was well versed in the wines we were about to taste.
As the panel deliberated the chat room started to fill up. There was myself (nick); ed_cirencester; Fran; Irwen; Tasting Buddy; Tomster; Perin Road and Christian to name a few and many others (apparently 250 logged in to the first event!). Comments started to flow with some of us challenging the panels views and others agreeing; some asking questions and, as the tasting drew on and more wine was consumed, some getting a bit silly – but only in an amusing sort of way. The wines were spaced out well with about ten minutes given to each and a short film clip shown in between each wine to allow glasses to be recharged and food served. James providing the links and feeding back some of the chat room comments to the panel. Apart from the wines themselves we had mini discussions about the merits of cork versus plastic versus Stelvin closures; decanting wine and the benefits that can bring particularly to young wines and what food and wine pairings worked best.
While I was there on my own researching the concept for this article I did start to feel a bit of a saddo as clearly most of the others were groups of friends who had got together to enjoy a meal and the wines at home and also to have a bit of fun educating themselves at the same time. Still I enjoyed the event even in research mode and I think the hour and a half programme is about right as by the end of the session clearly some of the groups were starting to get into party mode and maybe the questions were starting to deteriorate in standard! During the event we all had a chance to enter an online competition and also vote for our favourites.
The next virtual event will be held on Sunday 29th January (more frequent tastings are planned) when the panel will be broadcasting “live” from somewhere in France. I have to say I am now addicted and will certainly try to join in again. The idea is still in its infancy and I think the panels’ stage set could be improved (at present a desk in front of some shuttered bay windows!) but the basic concept is great and I’m sure the idea will catch on quickly and evolve. If you want to give it a try then just log in to www.virtualwine.co.uk and you can read all about it and even see a sample clip from the previous event and there are plenty of easy to follow instructions as to how to join in.
Nick Scade
November 2005
“And where do you think you are sneaking off to at 7 o’clock on a Sunday evening?” This was the question my wife posed when she saw me disappearing into my office armed with six opened bottles of wine, a few glasses and a spittoon (actually a large plastic kitchen jug!). “Oh I’m just off to meet a few people for an Italian wine tasting, I’ll be back in an hour and a half” was my rather improbable reply.
Welcome to the world of the virtual wine tasting. I was about to test a brand new service now being offered to wine lovers that combines education and a bit of fun. Just before the appointed hour I logged onto my computer and went to Internet Explorer where I typed in www.virtualwine.co.uk and clicked on a home page link to the wine tasting that was about to start.
Having registered a week or so earlier I had already purchased my wines which had since been delivered by courier together with an access password, a tasting sheet detailing the wines due to be tasted and some suggested foods that would accompany them, together with a map of the Italian wine growing areas and some general background about each region. You have to purchase a minimum of twelve bottles (2 of each wine) so it’s a good idea to team up with a few friends.
As I logged in I was invited to provide a name or nickname if I also wanted to enter the chat room where I would be able to ask questions or make comments about the wines or “chat” with the other participants or the panel - who by this time I could see on screen (you do need a decent broadband connection and Windows Media Player v7 or above for this to all work seamlessly!). The panel consisted of James Booth who came up with the idea. He acted as the Panel Chairman for the evening and was together with Ben Llewelyn, Director of Italian wine specialists Enotria Wine Cellars, Angelo Garofalo, Consultant Executive Chef for the Strada Restaurant Group, Davina Boyle, also from Enotria and Alan Stevens, Media professional and wine enthusiast. James would then proceed to introduce each wine and each panel member would comment starting always with Ben who clearly was well versed in the wines we were about to taste.
As the panel deliberated the chat room started to fill up. There was myself (nick); ed_cirencester; Fran; Irwen; Tasting Buddy; Tomster; Perin Road and Christian to name a few and many others (apparently 250 logged in to the first event!). Comments started to flow with some of us challenging the panels views and others agreeing; some asking questions and, as the tasting drew on and more wine was consumed, some getting a bit silly – but only in an amusing sort of way. The wines were spaced out well with about ten minutes given to each and a short film clip shown in between each wine to allow glasses to be recharged and food served. James providing the links and feeding back some of the chat room comments to the panel. Apart from the wines themselves we had mini discussions about the merits of cork versus plastic versus Stelvin closures; decanting wine and the benefits that can bring particularly to young wines and what food and wine pairings worked best.
While I was there on my own researching the concept for this article I did start to feel a bit of a saddo as clearly most of the others were groups of friends who had got together to enjoy a meal and the wines at home and also to have a bit of fun educating themselves at the same time. Still I enjoyed the event even in research mode and I think the hour and a half programme is about right as by the end of the session clearly some of the groups were starting to get into party mode and maybe the questions were starting to deteriorate in standard! During the event we all had a chance to enter an online competition and also vote for our favourites.
The next virtual event will be held on Sunday 29th January (more frequent tastings are planned) when the panel will be broadcasting “live” from somewhere in France. I have to say I am now addicted and will certainly try to join in again. The idea is still in its infancy and I think the panels’ stage set could be improved (at present a desk in front of some shuttered bay windows!) but the basic concept is great and I’m sure the idea will catch on quickly and evolve. If you want to give it a try then just log in to www.virtualwine.co.uk and you can read all about it and even see a sample clip from the previous event and there are plenty of easy to follow instructions as to how to join in.
Nick Scade
November 2005
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Discover Biodynamic & Organic Wines on 25th JulyDiscover Biodynamic & Organic Wines with Tastoria and Green & Blue Wines (25th of July, 2008 - 9:44 am) Join us on September 20th for our next online wine tasting event. Together with our latest UK partner G...
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