So much wine to try, how to fit it all in? it is a challenge my friends, but we made it through back-to-back wine events in one weekend. Hard work of course… The first was a tasting of four different wines from one winery, the second a blind tasting of Italian wines. Very different concepts, both fun.

 A year or so ago we gave my sister-in-law Pam a virtual tasting of Chappellet Chardonnays. Chappellet Winery has long been a favorite. They make excellent wines and I have been a member of their wine club since we visited there a number of years ago.   Pam is a Chardonnay “specialist” and from her reaction when I bring Chappellet chardonnays to family gatherings, I know she likes them. We have gotten to the age where we really don’t need more “stuff”, so we try to gift each other experiences. And just FYI, wine is not “stuff”. When Covid shut down in person tours and tasting, wineries quickly turned to their email lists offering wine directly to customers and developing virtual experiences. Not quite the same as sitting on a terrace overlooking the vineyards, but certainly saves airfare and limits virus exposure. I have done a few of their virtual events, things like tasting the latest wine club releases with the winemaker that were free and held over zoom. While there were lots of people on the zoom, you could ask questions through the chat feature, so it was somewhat interactive.

To arrange a private Virtual tasting there are a few options. You email or call the winery, tell them what wines you want, where it should be shipped, and they schedule one of their “Wine Ambassadors” to do the tasting. Chappellet makes three different chardonnays so I thought it would be fun to taste all three and see how they compare. The Wine Ambassador, Stephen, sent ahead instructions on what to have ready including suggested cheese and charcuterie pairings along with the zoom link. Pam was nice enough to invite us and another couple to join the party. I brought one of the winery’s red wines since, well, why not?  In our virtual session Stephen gave some background on the winery and showed a couple of short videos as we tasted through the wines. Like a winery tour from home. He was great, answered all our questions and helped us understand the wines, how they were made and what differentiates one from another. Not an inexpensive experience since the wines are pricey; but they are really excellent. And don’t forget all the travel expenses you are saving!

Wine tasting two was my second try at a blind wine tasting party. This time focused on a country rather than varietals. Bring a bottle of Italian wine, red or while (or both 😊) and an appetizer. There were 6 couples and we ended up with 10 wines, 3 whites and 7 reds. Plus, I opened a bottle of Prosecco as a warmup, and another bottle of red later. As we were getting started someone said, wow, we don’t HAVE to finish all these, do we? No, the point is to taste them all, doesn’t take a lot of each to do that and you can come back at the end to re-taste your favorites. Since some of the bottles were empty before everyone got through, I think people took the challenge seriously. Some of the group knew a lot about wine, one couple brought two bottles sent from a winery in Tuscany they had visited. Most wines came from PA Wine and Spirits or Total Wine. There was some discussion along the lines of “I think this is a Chianti Classico” or “Hmm, really rich, maybe an Amarone?” It was more, “I like this one better than that one.” Wines were rated 1 for Yuk to 5 for yummy. Below are the results! In sum, a lot of good wine and food was consumed, and much fun was had by all. Not bad for a Sunday evening!