Tastoria in the Press

365 DAYS OF WINE

by: Cathy Huyghe

Wine-related videos are popular on the internet these days, to say the least.

CNN reported that about 40,000 internet viewers have a daily appointment with Wine Library TV, an online video show that’s produced five days a week. The Winery Channel (“Web shows for wine lovers”) is another popular site, and Wine Spectator Online’s video archive measures in the hundreds.

I’m not a great fan of online videos but, nonetheless, I’ve been a customer of Tastoria.com since its first event. Tastoria.com is a wine media company whose very personable CEO, Catherine O’Rourke, is based in Ipswich and Boston. The company produces virtual wine tasting events over the internet. If you live locally, like I do, and register for an event, a Tastoria rep will deliver the six-bottle wine pack to your door the week or so before the event.

The idea is to invite friends over for the event’s designated time (normally a Saturday at 7 p.m.), have some food, watch the online show, and drink the wines in moderation, that is, one or two-ounce tastes of each wine. The hook is that you’re drinking the wines at home at the same time as the hosts you’re watching on your computer. They’re talking their way through the six wines that you’re both drinking.

During the event itself a chat room is live on-screen, and participants offer running commentary on the wines and what they’re eating with them. People are logged in from all over the country and internationally; locally, I noticed another participant from Manchester-by-the-Sea, and others from Gloucester and Boston. Some participants are logged in as a group, as Tastoria recommends, but other people are participating as individuals.

A virtual wine tasting might sound like the most lonesome thing in the world. Sitting in front of a computer with several open bottles next to your keyboard might seem to violate wine’s essential sense of conviviality. But given the popularity of wine websites, blogs and even wine wikis, the fact is that the internet is a versatile learning tool that most of today’s wine-drinking audience is savvy enough to navigate. Tastoria.com is one several virtual wine tasting companies to utilize that tool, with mostly positive results.

Tonight’s theme, so close to Valentine’s Day, is romance and Paris. In between tastings of the wines, Tastoria shows pre-recorded video clips (and some interviews) of French-themed foods and restaurants. Andy Husbands, of Tremont 647 in Boston’s South End, is also on-hand to talk about food-wine pairings.

One of the greatest benefits of a virtual wine tasting is the chance to listen to a knowledgeable (but not pretentious) wine expert talk about the wines you’re drinking as you’re drinking them. Ben Llewelyn isn’t saying anything too far out of the ordinary, but he talks in a very engaging and educational way without being pedantic. He also responds enthusiastically to questions posed to him through the chat room. To someone new to wine, this is a valuable opportunity to act like a fly on the wall (i.e., not look stupid) while you gain some insight into a key set of wines.

Tonight the wines themselves range from a French bubbly to New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Chardonnay, Chilean Malbec, Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, and Australian Muscat. The list is a primer, really, of well-known grapes from well-known regions where they grow especially well.

For example, for the fifth wine, a 2005 Relativity Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve from Napa, Ben Llewelyn talked about predictable things like cassis and black currant and oak. But he also told the story of this wine, namely, the two people who came together to make it and the help they sought along the way.

The wine is interesting enough on its own but it’s the story that ups the chances a wine will be memorable. Personally, a memorable wine is what I’m after and Tastoria.com offers a fun way to get there, that is, by hearing the stories right along with hearing the info on the wine itself.

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