Online wine tasting - the self-test

Because it was so nice, I have to delight you again with a post about wine.
The topic of wine is as old as time, and each of us has some fond memories of wine tastings and evenings together. The crisis is also hitting winegrowers hard, because without wine festivals and other face-to-face events there is no possibility of selling wines.
The restaurateurs are not good customers either. The increased per capita alcohol consumption due to national cabin fever doesn't help much either.

The best way to enjoy wine is with friends and colleagues, which we are currently not able to do and which certainly leads to social withdrawal symptoms. But my dear colleague Ellen Kamrad, a creative event manager from Cologne, has come up with something to let us continue to enjoy delicious wines together - because the people of Cologne are not that easy to shake off when it comes to having fun together. The idea: The “Corona-compliant wine tasting” was quickly born. How is that supposed to work? It's very simple: All communication between the winemaker and the guests takes place purely digitally via Zoom, everyone with their wine - and within the permitted possibilities with other people - on the couch at home, in the kitchen, or wherever it is comfortable. 

The crazy thing is that it doesn't matter where in the world the participants are sitting, or even how many take part in such a tasting. Basically, this opens up completely new possibilities, because apart from a few clean glasses and a stable internet connection, you don't need anything else.  

I wanted to take a look at that! After registering via the website, things began to take their course: the wine arrived home on time and safely packaged a few days beforehand. Four bottles of the most delicious wines along with a snack package and instructions for the evening.

Shortly before the start, the link and access code were sent by email, logging into the Zoom conference is completely uncomplicated - even understandable for people who don't spend the whole day in video conferences for work. The winemaker and moderator are live and in color on the screen, you can even interact with him, ask questions, etc. All participants are shown above in postage stamp size, and you even have a bit of the feeling of being among people. In this case we had the pleasure of meeting winemaker Christian Schaadt from the Mosel and Ellen Kamrad - who led through the program in a funny and interesting way.

My conclusion after four wines: A super nice evening that doesn't end even after the 1.5 hour wine tasting - that's when it gets really fun. I think the idea is ideal to have some sense of community and normality again with your usual team or best friends, at least for a short moment. Give it a try!

Take a look, you can register here

And if you can't get enough: Ellen also offers tastings for coffee, cheese & wine and cooking courses... all digital, at a distance and still a lot of fun. Click here for the website