Here is our list of the best online wine tasting classes.
Online wine tasting classes are virtual sessions where wine experts guide you through the experience of tasting different types of wines. With the help of the sommeliers, you can also learn the background and tastes of different wines. Examples include Orange Glou, Bottles Nation, and Passalacqua Winery. The purpose of these services is to invite remote teams to virtually visit a winery, taste a range of wines, and learn about the history and background of wines.
These experiences are examples of virtual team building ideas and are similar to online chocolate tasting and online coffee tasting.
This list includes:
- online wine tasting experiences
- Zoom wine tasting classes
- online wine pairing classes
- online wine courses for beginners
Let’s get started!
List of online wine tasting classes
Online wine tasting experiences are a great way to get your team together and provide them with an exciting, unique experience. Here is our list of the best virtual group wine tasting classes.
1. Wine.com
In addition to being a massive online wine store, Wine.com also hosts a wide variety of exciting and free online wine tasting events. With Wine.com, you can virtually interact with winemakers, critics, and other industry experts in real time.
Wine.com offers online wine tasting classes with notable sommeliers covering winemaking and its history. In addition to the tastings, each event features wines you can order when registering directly with Wine.com.
Some of this company’s famous tasting categories are:
- Invivo X creator Sarah Jessica Parker
- French winemakers and trailblazers Gérard Bertrand and Michel Chapoutier
- Antinori’s World of Wines
- Rosés with John Legend
- The wine entrepreneur Jean-Charles Boisset
To participate in the free online wine tasting, you must preorder the wine that goes along with your selected tasting. Once you register for the event online, Wine.com will send you webinar-style instructions and a Zoom login.
Learn more about Wine.com.
2. Priority Wine Pass
Napa-based Priority Wine Pass collaborates with wineries in California, Oregon, and Washington to bring participants in-home tastings of their products. This business provides a wide variety of boutique wineries for private tastings, allowing customers to create unique parties and tastings online without any special occasion.
You can select a winery from a list on the website, and most will have several themed packages available. When you choose your package, the winemaker will personally assist you in setting up your tasting. The length of the online tasting instruction session is roughly one hour, but that depends on the participants, their inquiries, and how they engage with the winery.
Priority Wine Pass typically uses Zoom for all of their tastings. If your organization prefers a different configuration, then you can set up a meeting link. Priority Wine Pass tastings start at $75 per kit, which includes the price of the wine bottles and shipping charges. The host fee for the events is $325. Therefore, you will save more on the packages than buying the wines separately. Additionally, the company offers various wine packages, and the price of your shipment will vary according to the package you choose.
Learn more about Priority Wine Pass.
3. Far Niente Winery
Far Niente is a wine producer in Napa Valley, working since 1885. The winery is most well-known for its chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon. Moreover, this winery also offers a wide range of personalized online tastings to complement these wines.
One of the sommeliers from Far Niente Winery will lead you through these tastings. During the sessions, you will gain an in-depth understanding of the wines you are sipping and can ask any related questions. In addition to supplying high-end wines from Napa and the Russian River Valley, Far Nienty Winery also puts you in touch with sommeliers from all across the country for exciting online events. The company holds events on small and large scales.
You can reserve a virtual wine tasting online for one to 16 guests. The winery will deliver wines to each participant, and you will receive confirmation of your order and delivery details. A red and white wine tasting for two guests with three bottles costs approximately $220, and the virtual tasting is included in the wine price. However, the virtual tasting packages vary.
Learn more about Far Niente Winery.
4. Orange Glou
Doreen Winkler, a sommelier based in New York, is on a crusade to convert the world to the joys of orange wines. Winkler offers Zoom wine tastings for small and large groups, where you will pay for the wine and glasses when you register. You can choose from two different Zoom wine tasting classes, each with additional features.
For $89 per box, you may participate in the 20- to 30-minute online group event, learn about the origins of orange wine and its production process, and then sample two distinct orange wines alongside a sommelier.
The second online group offering lasts 45 minutes, includes a sampling of three different bottles, and costs $115 for each box.
If you sign up with a group, then the vineyard will send a link to each member so they can virtually taste wines together. In addition, Orange Glou will also send wines to each participant at least two weeks before the party.
Learn more about Orange Glou.
5. Chandon
Chandon hosts a series of online tastings open to wine club members and casual wine drinkers. These virtual wine tasting experiences showcase featured wines, which you can purchase individually for nonmember tastings.
Pauline Lhote, head winemaker of Chandon, reflects on her career and development of the company in the latest monthly tasting, which you can access on the Chandon website. For the ultimate wine tasting experience, you can watch this video with a bottle from the Virtual Wine Tasting, Volume One set. While you try the Chandon brut, the Reserve blanc de blanc, and the 2015 Vintage Yountville brut, she will tell you about the winemaking process and the wines.
The publicly accessible tastings are free, but you may pay for individual bottles or the whole set included in the tasting. The set of wine consists of all the Volume One bottles and costs roughly $115 plus shipping. Club members enjoy discounts on bottle purchases and pay $280 for each wine shipment.
Learn more about Chandon.
6. St. Supéry
St. Supéry, a winery in Napa Valley, offers numerous virtual wine tasting experiences. St. Supéry can adapt the tasting to your needs based on your group size. The sommeliers will provide a guide to educate your team on wine and the winery’s background.
The company holds three types of virtual events, which include:
- Large-scale private virtual events
- Small group private events
- Shared group experiences
The owners and winemakers of St. Supéry will share the in-depth backstories of their wines, complete with tasting notes and suggested food pairings.
The online wine tasting classes showcase a tempting variety of virtual experiences, samples, and information, such as:
- Emma Swain, the CEO, hosts wine tastings.
- Skilled chefs pair dishes with wine.
- A virtual visit to the vineyard shows attendees a behind-the-scenes look at the manufacturing of some of the best vintages in the world.
St. Supéry also offers weekly wine tastings at home, where your team will receive virtual wine tasting kits. You will undoubtedly discover an experience here that meets your needs. To join the session, members must sign up for the online tasting event on their site. Attendees can then access the Zoom link through their inbox.
Learn more about St. Supéry.
7. Charles Krug
Founded in 1838, Charles Krug is the oldest winery in Napa Valley. This winery allows your team to enjoy a variety of drinks in the virtual session. In particular, this winery excels at hosting online wine tasting experiences for groups ranging in size from 100 to 300.
The Charles Krug Winery also offers online wine pairing classes. Moreover, novices can try three carefully chosen wines while learning about their backgrounds. A professional can also guide you through tasting the Charles Krug wines you already have at home.
The winery and The Laugh Cellar have teamed up to host a monthly online comedy series. Two bottles of wine, entrance to the wine tasting, and the comedic virtual event are all included in the $105 ticket price.
Learn more about Charles Krug.
8. Bottles Nation
Since Bottles Nation has no ties to any vineyards, the sommeliers working for the company are free to recommend whichever wines they genuinely enjoy. For example, their Classic Wine Kit introduces the differences between new and old wines.
This one-hour online wine tasting event, hosted by a trained sommelier, provides a high-level introduction to the winemaking process. As a participant in this Zoom event, you will gain insight into the distinctive characteristics of the styles you are sampling. Bottles Nation also includes digital tasting notes that participants can use alongside their observations. The members can also ask the sommelier questions during the session.
In this virtual experience, you will learn:
- Information about wine
- Origin of wine
- The best meal pairings
- The advantages of organic wines
- The composition of sulfites
The Classic Kit costs $85 for a group of four and includes white sparkling Champagne, white wine, and red wine. Additionally, you will receive four bottles of wine with every Classic Kit.
Learn more about Bottles Nation.
9. Matthiasson
The Matthiasson Winery offers the best online wine courses for beginners in the United States. These online wine experiences are a great option for both novices and seasoned connoisseurs.
The Matthiasson sample pack usually includes six 750-ml bottles, but the contents vary with the seasons. A vineyard staff member manages the website, so after placing an order, you can schedule a complimentary tasting for yourself within an hour.
In this online wine tasting experience, your team will get the inside scoop on the backstories of wine merchants. Matthiasson will also address your wine-related queries during the session. Along with a 15% discount on all wine purchases, membership to the wine club also grants you access to limited-quantity wines available only to club members.
With a Tasting Pack or Wine Club Membership, Matthiasson also offers complimentary online private tastings for all wine enthusiasts. The Wine Club Memberships begin at $315 for six bottles, and Tasting Packs start at $249 for six bottles.
Learn more about Matthiasson.
10. Stony Hill Vineyard
A small, family-run winery, Stony Hill produces outstanding wines from the hillside vines. You can pick between three distinctive virtual wine experiences at Stony Hill Vineyard.
These options include:
- Virtual Zoom Meetings
- Stony Hill Social Hours Live on Instagram
- Club Member-Exclusive Virtual Meetups
You can schedule a 45-minute Zoom tasting by purchasing a Virtual Tasting Pack, which the vineyard will deliver to your doorstep. In addition, the wine expert will show you through the vineyard and cellar. The members will also learn about the latest happenings at the ranch as they sample the various wines.
Learn more about Stony Hill Vineyard.
11. In Good Taste
In Good Taste emphasizes creating fun virtual wine tasting experiences. Since this company exclusively focuses on tastings, it has put a lot of time and work into making them excellent. Therefore, this winery provides 187-ml tasting-sized wine bottles rather than full 750-ml bottles, which is a unique characteristic. Consequently, you can sample significantly more wine before purchasing a few bottles. These tastings are great because you will not have to open a bunch of full-sized bottles at home and end up with half-empty ones.
To prepare for the tasting, In Good Taste will send a package to you containing eight different wines and some notes on how to enjoy them best. In addition, the number of allowed event attendees is unlimited.
There is a one-time fee of $75 for private tastings with less than six boxes. The price for a tasting box containing eight 187-ml bottles is $65. If you want free shipping, then you will need to spend $100 or more, which you may do by obtaining an additional tasting kit to split with your team or by purchasing a separate kit to save for later use.
Learn more about In Good Taste.
12. Bartholomew Estate Winery
Located in the middle of the Sonoma Valley in California, this artisanal winery is famous for its organic wines. This winery offers a professional winemaker to guide your virtual tasting, making it feel more like an in-person experience.
Kevin Holt, the winemaker from Bartholomew Estate Winery, is deeply devoted to his products and will gladly spend as much time as you like discussing and tasting his wines. When you order a tasting kit, the winery will contact you to arrange a Zoom meeting.
There is no definite end time for the virtual tasting once it begins. A sample of four bottles will cost around $158, while a tasting of six bottles will cost about $257. Additionally, the host will also deliver tasting notes and recommendations along with the kit to help members pair cheese with the wine.
Learn more about Bartholomew Estate Winery.
13. Passalacqua Winery
Sonoma County, California, is home to the family-run winery Passalacqua, which has been making wine for five generations. The Passalacqua Winery offers half-bottle tastings, which suits participants hesitant to buy a whole bottle without first trying it.
This winery presents the following three virtual wine tasting events:
- Light, Bright, and Fun!
- Sample Sips
- Corporate & Group Tastings
A Passalacqua employee hosts each private tasting and gives attendees information about the winery and its history.
The winery offers three two-ounce glasses of wine in a custom tasting for $75. Within one to two days of receiving the wines, the Passalacqua sommelier will host a virtual tasting session on your preferred online conferencing platform. The host will guide your team in tasting and selecting your favorite wines.
Learn more about Passalacqua Winery.
Conclusion
Whether in-person or online, wine tasting is an opportunity to socialize, discover something new, and celebrate good times with your group. Online wine tasting classes are a fun and creative way to gather the whole team together for what may be an educational and exciting evening. These courses are a refined approach to socializing with remote coworkers.
Next, check out online mixology classes.
