What to do as a wine lover during the corona crisis?

Firstly, we hope that you, your family and friends are all healthy during these difficult times. Although there are many restrictions in place, and most countries are in some sort of lockdown and you can’t visit your favourite wine bar or restaurant, there is no need to be sad. This is the time to catch up on your favourite hobby; WINE!

We’ve been facing the same and want to share six inspiring activities to make it through these hard times.

1. Organize an online wine tasting

Naturally most countries restrict the gathering of people, and rightly so. But that shouldn’t stop you from having wine tastings with your wine friends.

Simply organize an online wine tasting event. Contact your buddies and ask everyone to prepare their favourite wine. In a response to the covid-19 crisis many wine shops have started to take up deliveries as well. So you don’t even have to leave the house. Come up with different themes to keep things excited. Themes can be the wine region or grape variety, so there are endless possibilities. Download the free apps Houseparty or Zoom, these work excellent for group calls.

2. Read about wine

 Extend your knowledge. You probably have more time on hand now then you have had for a long time. Use this time to learn more about wine.

There’s tons of information online, but we recommend going oldschool. Here’s our personal selection;

The New Wine Rules – Keep wine simple, that’s what it’s all about in this little book by Jon Bonné, a favourite of many sommeliers.

 Wine Folly- The Essential Guide to Wine – Probably the best introduction to the world of wine.

Adventures on the Wine Route: A Wine Buyer’s Tour of France – Read this book and use it as a source of inspiration for your next wine holiday in France, once things are back to normal.

3. Follow an online wine course

You may have wanted to sign up for a wine course but never did because “you didn’t have the time”. No more excuses! We found some excellent online wine courses which you can join from the comfort of your home. And what’s even better is that these are FREE!

World of Wine: From Grape to Glass – Brought to you by the University of Adelaide and facilitated by EDX.

Wine Tasting: Sensory Techniques for Wine Analysis – Learn all about wine tasting techniques, a course developed by the prestigious UC Davis.

4. Tune in to the world of podcasts

During your daily exercise or walk to the supermarket, tune in to one of these wine podcasts, available on spotify or itunes.

Wine Enthusiast Podcast – The Wine Enthusiast Podcast takes you on a tantalizing trip into the world of wine, beer and spirits.

Mr Wine Guy Podcast – Mr Wine Guy interviews amazing winemakers.

5. Binge watch

Somm

Following candidates on their mission to become a Master Sommelier. The first documentary was aired in 2013 and a few new films have been released since.

Sour grapes

After having seen this Netflix documentary you’ll think twice before buying that extremely scarce back-vintage Bordeaux that was missing in your collection.

Botttle Shock

One of our all-time favourites about the story that put Californian wine on the map.

A Year in Burgundy

A beautiful film that shows all the hard work it takes to produce good wine. A favourite of Jancis Robinson.

Barolo Boys – The Story of a Revolution

30 years ago, Barolo was unknown, even in Italy. Barolo’s current success is mainly due to the courage and initiative of a group of small-scale wine producers, the so-called Barolo Boys.

Blood Into Wine

Take a look inside the life of one of rock music’s most mysterious and interesting figures. With winemaking in his blood, multi-platinum recording artist Maynard James Keenan sets out to bring notoriety to Arizona’s burgeoning wine regions.

Uncorked

A young man upsets his father when he pursues his dream of becoming a master sommelier instead of joining the family barbecue business.

6. Play wine board games

Remember the holidays before the internet era where the whole family would gather at the dining table to play Risk or Monopoly? Bring back that sentiment by playing one of these great wine board games:

Vinhos

Probably the best wine board game around. As winemakers in Portugal, the players develop their vineyards and produce wine to achieve maximum profit. The object of the game is to produce quality wines that can be exchanged for money or victory points.

Grand Cru

We must have all been day-dreaming sometimes about having your own winery. In Grand Cru, you are an ambitious vintner and the players attempt to run new vineyards located at the best sites available.

Wine Wars

A trivia game about wine. Why didn’t’ we think of that? An extremely fun game which is educational at the same time. A must-have for all you wine aficionados out there.

 

What do you do to kill the time during the covid-19 crisis? Share it with us in the comments below, we’d love to hear from you.

Santé!

Albert & Willem