A virtual wine dinner in the comfort of your home is a marvelous way to celebrate Summer Wine Week in Pinal Country, Arizona.
With the world in its many stages, virtual tours have sprung up to showcase museums and national parks. We love participating in wine pairings. So why not have a virtual wine dinner. No sense in leaving out the fun activity of tasting wines paired with a delicious meal.
Virtual Wine Dinner Preparation
It was a simple pick up. I drove to the restaurant who was hosting the event. There was a drive-through area with no line. As I arrived I rolled down my passenger window and the restaurant representatives collected my information and brought out a bag and a box. They placed the two items through the window and on to the passenger seat.
In the bag was the two-person three-course meal in separate very nice containers.
In the box were the three wines that would be part of the night’s education. Also in the box were documents that included the evening’s menu. One sheet had the zoom call information. Additional sheets with descriptions of each wine. And the final sheet was for ordering the wines.
Once back at the house; we removed all the containers from the bag and removed the wines from the box and placed them on the porch table. The dessert wine and carrot cake were placed in the refrigerator until we reached that portion of the meal.
First Course
We logged on to the zoom call and were greeted with many happy faces of the other participants for the dinner. The presenter was sharing a video of the Washington area from which the grapes are from.
When the official start time began we started the first course: Fig & Apple Bruschetta, paired with a full bottle of the Pundit Syrah. That is right, a full bottle. We each poured just a bit into our wine glasses to taste. It was delicious, so we poured in a little more while we ate and learned about the Pundit Syrah.
Second Course
Next, as you can imagine was the second course. I will admit that when I had read a few days before that the main meal was short ribs, I was not excited. This is because I thought it was ribs that you eat with your hands and get very messy. This was not the case and now I am a huge fan of braised short ribs. The meat fell apart perfectly. This was my first time having three different types of Rosemary fingerling potatoes. The meal came with green beans too. This second meal was paired with a full bottle of the Indian Wells Red Blend. Everything tasted fantastic.
Third Course
The third course concluded with carrot cake and paired with a full bottle of the Eroica Gold Riesling. I had never had a carrot cake like this before. I do not order carrot cake because I do not like it, until now. Wow, it was wonderful. The sugar (sweat) of the Riesling helped to melt the carrot cake in my mouth.
Virtual Wine Dinner – Chateau Ste Michelle
This was a well designed and planned out event. The education portion was entertaining. The conversation over zoom with the other participants was delightful. This is an event that I look forward to attending again in the future.
Thank you to Chateau Ste Michelle for providing wonderful wines.
Have you attended a virtual wine dinner or virtual wine tasting?
I love how restaurants are adapting to the pandemic. A virtual wine tasting seems right up our alley! Definitely going to see if any of our local restaurants have started doing these, so fun!
That is wonderful. When you find one, share with us your experience.
Wow, all of these courses look amazing!
They tasted great too.
This is a neat idea of something to do at home.
That is what we liked about the wine dinner was that we could do it at home.
What a fun night!! I’m so jealous that you had this experience; this is definitely right up our ally!!
See if a restaurant near you is doing this. Then let us know how it goes.
What a cool idea! I hadn’t heard of anything like this. I need to see if anyone is doing something like this in my area. And I love carrot cake.
🙂 I am a fan of carrot cake now too!
This looks super fun! I love the Indian Wells Red. We served it at our wedding, as Chateau St Michelle is nearby. The meal looked amazing, and its such a fun way to have a wine tasting!
That is awesome. Have you visited the grounds?
What a creative way to enjoy a night of wine and good food! I know we’re living in such surreal times, but am in awe of how people are finding new ways to experience life.
I agree. People are finding great ways to still experience life.
This is such a great idea! I wish our local restaurants and wineries would do this!
Have you reached out to them to ask if they would?
What a wonderful idea. The food looks delicious and wine tasting is always fun. I’ve never thought about taking a cooking class online but this would be great for date night.
An online cooking class would be fun. Great idea.
Wow I’m impressed with this! How fun. I’m wondering how many other restaurants are sponsoring virtual dinners and wine tastings?
I am wondering that too.
What a awesome idea. I love wine tastings and would be all for a virtual event!
We agree. It was a fun educational event.
I love the owl on the bottle. Unfortunately I am allergic to wines (not sure what causes it but I am for sure). It looks like a great way to enjoy some great wines.
The food was delicious too.
This is such an awesome idea! The food looked delicious too! I love carrot cake so I would be all over that!
Glad that I am not the only one that likes carrot cake. Yum
My husband and I love these events. We do several a year but sadly this year our event in April was canceled. I wish they had gone to a virtual event. I will have to suggest this in the future. It’s a great way to still participate and learn about the wines and good pairings.
Yes, I agree. I like learning about how and why they paired the wine to the foods.