Wine Tastings with Food via Video Conference

[TdeV]

Elsewhere I've posted these two Zoom wine tasting events: April 11 and April 20. Both of these had heavy nibbles consisting of cheeses, cured meats, fruit, nuts, olives, pickled peppers, crackers. Photos reposted below: first April ll (which was excessive for one meal)

 

April 20

 

 

Today, thanks to @blue_dolphin , I'm interested in possibilities.

 

What do you think would contribute to an interesting virtual wine tasting with food?

What foods would get served?

How many participants?

Would you resolve how to get the same wine to participants, or would everyone drink different bottles?

Does everything have to come from a restaurant or can one trust one's non-professional-chef friends to be (unnaturally) squeaky clean about preparing food?

 

Curious minds want to know.

[TdeV]

On the question of how many guests: Most conversation at wine tastings, regardless of size, seems (to me) to be small chats between 2 or 3 people. Zoom et al. don't allow separate conversations.

Edited May 17, 2020 by TdeV
Clarity (log)

[blue_dolphin]

The wine distribution is tricky, isn't it? The thing I enjoy about tasting dinners is the opportunity to taste and compare multiple wines, something that doesn't work so well for 1 or 2 people.  It would be easy enough to purchase the wines and distribute bottles along with the food but if it's only one or two people at a given location, they're unlikely to do justice to 4 or more open bottles of wine in a single evening.  And it would be rather expensive, too!

 

A local distillery partnered with a local chocolate maker on a Zoom liquor/chocolate pairing event.  They went with 200 ml bottles of the their liquor items and the chocolates could be purchased in multiples so each person would have their own.  But 4 open liquor bottles are pretty shelf stable compared with wine!

 

[TdeV]

Indeed. I personally don't like day old wine, in spite of going to a blind tasting years ago where there were doubles of 6 or 8 wines; one of the pair opened, decanted, and immediately poured back in the bottle and corked the day before the event. Wines ranged in popularity but, in all cases, the wine decanted the day before rated higher than the same wine opened the night of. So go figure!

In both of the April 11 and April 20 events above, each of two sites poured half a bottle into a decanter and then sent the other half to the other location, exchanged at the same time as the food. One problem with upsizing, DH mentioned, was what to use for transport containers.