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Apr 15, 2020 • 7 min read
It was harvest in Anjou on a golden afternoon in September. I had flown from Tennessee to Paris and my friend Toni had flown from New York City to meet me there. We spent a giddy first night together in Paris, eating frites and cassoulet at the classic Bistro Paul Bert, drinking natural Champagne. It was earthy and bright and we couldn’t believe our luck, in France together at last.
Toni and I first met when we worked together at the shop where I’m a wine buyer; however, she since moved to New York and got a job with a natural wine importer. We strolled along the Seine and drank an Alsatian Pinot Noir – zippy and spicy with a little funk. The next morning we took the train to Anjou, commenting sagely on the scenery as it flashed past. “Regard, la vache!” “Ahh, oui, la vache! La vache est beau!“
In Anjou, we checked into our rooms in the hamlet of Behuard and drove over the gentle slopes and valleys of the Coteaux du Layon to St-Lambert-du-Lattay, to the winery of Agnès and Renée Mosse. We tasted Chenin after golden, minerally Chenin, then peppery and earthy Cabernet Francs tasting of herbs, flowers, currants, and dirt. We bought a Chenin for later and had a picnic on the wide pebbly banks of the Loire, with pâté and cheese, carrot salad, baguette, a huge slab of salted butter, and crisp cornichons. The sun sank low and late while the moon rose, a cold white face in the cornflower blue sky.
Enjoying wine in a time of social distancing
That was wine tasting then. Now, it’s a much different affair. Wine country feels like a dream as far away as that remote moon. Your favorite local wine bar may feel like it’s on the other side of the world, and your friend across town may seem like they are a plane flight away. When drinking wine at wine bars or attending tastings a mile from home isn’t an option, let alone sipping wine in Europe a mile from the vines, we must get creative about incorporating wine into how we connect with people and place.
No matter where you’re sipping, drinking wine combines the promise of low-key enjoyment, knowledge gained, and the company of friends or loved ones. There’s a reason it has been incorporated into our social functions for millennia. Moreover, drinking wine at home can be meditative, too – sitting on one’s stoop contemplating a glass of Sicilian frappato, sharing a bottle of Slovenian sivi pinot while chopping onions for dinner with a partner, or indulging in glass after glass of boxed wine while enjoying a streaming series.
How to enjoy wine tasting at home
Whether we are confined to our homes or finding creative ways to connect with faraway friends, we can enjoy wine as a means to connect us to the world beyond our reach.
Tag your people!
Use your favorite social media platform to share what you’re drinking with your wine-loving friends. Tag close friends or acquaintances you miss seeing at your local wine shop tasting. Use a wine already on your rack if you can’t venture out. If you don’t have something on hand, many local wine shops offer curbside service and delivery, so reach out to them for recommendations.
Next, grab a notepad and a pen to write down the wine’s name, producer, region, grapes, and winemaking details. Pour a glass and note the aromas and flavors. Wine Folly is an excellent resource, with lots of tasting tutorials and videos.
Post your video in your story or in your feed, or go live if you’re feeling particularly adventurous. Talk to your friends about the wine as if they’re sitting across from you. Discuss why you chose it, what you like about it, or whether you like it at all. It’s gratifying to see a friend across town or on the other side of the world respond to your video with their own wine thoughts – to share in an experience and be present together even if you’re physically far apart.
A good old fashioned tasting party
Gathering friends for a virtual wine tasting via Google Chat or Zoom takes a bit more planning, but it can be as simple or elaborate as you want. Crack open whatever wine you have at home and take turns describing it. Bonus points if you’re interrupted by unruly children or pets!
Or pick a theme: Rosé from around the world, French reds, obscure Italian whites, or sparkling wine. Pair it with cheese – everyone can choose one or two cheeses from the grocery store, through delivery or a local cheesemonger curbside pickup – and compare notes.
Does your Riesling match the nutty aged Gouda you bought, or does your friend’s combination of Champagne and truffled Brie sound more enticing? Take notes and plan which combinations to try for your next wine Zoom or when you can all be together again.
Virtual wine study
This approach works best for truly wine-obsessed friends. Pick a region you want to learn more about, maybe Beaujolais. One person buys a Beaujolais-Villages and one crus Beaujolais from one of the 10 subregions known for producing top-quality Gamay. The others can get a couple of crus each, and if you’re ambitious, cover all 10 crus!
Get out the maps and dive into the flavor distinctions between the different crus. Learn about the soil and expositions that set Cote de Brouilly apart from Regnie, and Morgon to see if you can taste the variations. Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson’s The World Atlas of Wine is a fantastic resource if you want to learn more about the geography behind your favorite flavors.
The virtual wine tour
It’s inevitable that all this wine tasting and studying will evoke a desire to visit the places behind it – to drive the winding backcountry roads between Regnie and Ville-Morgon in the rain, with statues of Mary standing ghostly in the roundabouts amidst oceans of vines.
So use this time to plan your trip and pick your tasting wines around your dream destination. The magical aspect of wine is that it’s a means to taste the places you miss, even if you cannot be there physically. You can also select wines from a region you and your friends have previously visited and “revisit” those memories with wines from that region paired with your favorite travel photos – with assurances that you will return when it’s safe again.
A taste of travel at home
Two days after our Chenin picnic, Toni and I met Jean-Pierre Robinot, a magical gnome of a winemaker, who led us deep into his wine caves to taste by the light of his dancing headlamp. We spit Chenin and Pineau d’Aunis into a bucket in the dark, trying to grasp his rapid French. He gifted us each an unmarked bottle from his cellar.
We still have those bottles. We also have a Google Video date set for this weekend. Maybe now is the time to open them, compare their nuances, and laugh about that magical, absurd visit while planning our next trip to Italy and Slovenia.
This time has transformed how we drink and the lives of the people who craft these wines – when we finally make it to Italy, it will be a different Italy than it was just a few months ago. Nevertheless, there will still be people in the vineyards, coaxing beauty from the ground into the glass. For now, I’ll pour a glass of Pineau d’Aunis and ponder the complexity of red fruit, piquant acidity, and earth, with my friend’s face on a screen in my hand.