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I have participated in two Tastoria events and it is fabulous! Everyone has a great time! Go Tastoria!
Liz Duxbury of New Jersey
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Tastoria in the Press
Online Wine Tasting - The London Paper, Robert Sandall, Sept 2007
February 9th, 2008
Wine tastings can be intimidating affairs: all that swirling and sniffing and pretentious comparisons (“ I get wet dog”, etc) are not for everyone.
In a bid to engage the sort of wine lover who likes the idea of a tutored tasting – where experts explain what’s in your glass and how it was made – but doesn’t want to stand around in a room full of pontificating strangers, a company called Virtual Wine has come up with an ingenious solution.
Online tastings may sound a bit weird, but for anyone willing to stump up £50 for six different bottles of red and white, they can be a lot of fun. I decided to give it a go.
The wheeze centres on a free 90-minute webcast, where a small panel of wine boffins have their say, discussing what’s being drunk. There’s also an internet chat room where Joe Tasting Public can answer back.
The wines [for this event were] supplied by a Cambridge-based independent wine merchant, Noel Young, and they come with food suggestions attached to create a dinner party vibe.
Virtual Wine likes to theme its events – the one I attended was loosely pegged to the Rugby World Cup. Very loosely pegged as it turned out, because although it featured wines from New Zealand, Australia, France, Argentina, South Africa and Italy, there was nothing from the hotly tipped vineyards of England – an omission that was swiftly pointed out in a chat room in no mood for hifalutin nonsense.
“Tristram thinks this one tastes of wine,” the webcast presenter [James Booth] relayed to the panel after its lively intro on the opening fruity Sicilian white. After some more informed observations about the viognier grape from the panel, another chat roomer said the Italian rugby team wasn’t “as good on the pitch as this wine is in my glass”.
By the time a group of online tipplers calling themselves “Chelsea Girls” wrote that one of their number “just had a bath” in the Argentinian torrontes “and she smells great!”, it was clear the tasting was progressing into a proper session.
The South African red that followed went down well with the panel, but by now the chat room was in a state of genial uproar. I have to admit, I was really enjoying myself – and not just virtually.
It was no surprise that when asked to nominate their favourite wine of a wildly enjoyable evening, the chat room chose the last one, an Australian shiraz. At this point, it was probably the only one anybody could clearly remember.
Next event: Friday, 5 October. Booking ends 2 October. For more details see www.virtualwine.co.uk
Original article: thelondonpaper, “Online Wine Tasting” by Robert Sandall, 26 September 2007
Wine tastings can be intimidating affairs: all that swirling and sniffing and pretentious comparisons (“ I get wet dog”, etc) are not for everyone.
In a bid to engage the sort of wine lover who likes the idea of a tutored tasting – where experts explain what’s in your glass and how it was made – but doesn’t want to stand around in a room full of pontificating strangers, a company called Virtual Wine has come up with an ingenious solution.
Online tastings may sound a bit weird, but for anyone willing to stump up £50 for six different bottles of red and white, they can be a lot of fun. I decided to give it a go.
The wheeze centres on a free 90-minute webcast, where a small panel of wine boffins have their say, discussing what’s being drunk. There’s also an internet chat room where Joe Tasting Public can answer back.
The wines [for this event were] supplied by a Cambridge-based independent wine merchant, Noel Young, and they come with food suggestions attached to create a dinner party vibe.
Virtual Wine likes to theme its events – the one I attended was loosely pegged to the Rugby World Cup. Very loosely pegged as it turned out, because although it featured wines from New Zealand, Australia, France, Argentina, South Africa and Italy, there was nothing from the hotly tipped vineyards of England – an omission that was swiftly pointed out in a chat room in no mood for hifalutin nonsense.
“Tristram thinks this one tastes of wine,” the webcast presenter [James Booth] relayed to the panel after its lively intro on the opening fruity Sicilian white. After some more informed observations about the viognier grape from the panel, another chat roomer said the Italian rugby team wasn’t “as good on the pitch as this wine is in my glass”.
By the time a group of online tipplers calling themselves “Chelsea Girls” wrote that one of their number “just had a bath” in the Argentinian torrontes “and she smells great!”, it was clear the tasting was progressing into a proper session.
The South African red that followed went down well with the panel, but by now the chat room was in a state of genial uproar. I have to admit, I was really enjoying myself – and not just virtually.
It was no surprise that when asked to nominate their favourite wine of a wildly enjoyable evening, the chat room chose the last one, an Australian shiraz. At this point, it was probably the only one anybody could clearly remember.
Next event: Friday, 5 October. Booking ends 2 October. For more details see www.virtualwine.co.uk
Original article: thelondonpaper, “Online Wine Tasting” by Robert Sandall, 26 September 2007
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That was a buzz! It was the first time I have had to host a show on my own and I must say that it was great fun, although it is funny to think now, but a few times I thought I might be lost for words. Luckily for me Hannes D... (more...)
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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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