Virtual happy hour with The Tasting Class.

So, in case you’ve never heard of The Tasting Class, friend Lindsay Trivers founded the company a few years ago in Dubai.  Since then, she’s delivered countless at home wine tastings (I’ve been fortunate enough to attend a few) and professional wine education courses.  Obviously, things have changed drastically for her (and everyone) over the past month.  She and I had always been talking about working together on a project — maybe a podcast, but something where we would discuss wine, wine tasting, and history, in a longer format.  So, near the middle of March, in a world where we have the technology, the idea of the virtual tasting class/happy hour was born.  We’ve recorded three ‘episodes’ so far, and it’s been encouraging to see the community respond and engage with us.

Overall, we’re looking to be a fun source of edutainment.  A virtual place for people to come together and learn something new about a varietal they already drink.  Or maybe a place to feel less alone.  I’m also proud that we’re working directly with MMI and Spinneys Beverage (a division of Spinneys), as well as local restaurants to show what is available in country.

Committing to these sessions has been a great way to break up the monotony of my week, and provide something different than Netflix or a book.

And we’re (obviously) not alone.  Chefs in Dubai (and around the world) are opening their kitchens to share recipes, musicians are doing live concerts, and a mommy blogger I know is reading a new book to her followers every morning.  People are being creative with what they have available, and I am here for it.

Hope to ‘see’ you at a session soon!