How to become a wine connoisseur on Zoom

As far as wine is concerned, there’s one unexpected bonus to the coronavirus, and by that I don’t mean being able to convince yourself that every night is a Saturday night. Rather, it’s that you can now get the same access to the movers and shakers of the wine world as me or any other wine professional. Whereas before, especially if you live somewhere from where it’s hard to get to wine tastings, you can now virtually visit vineyards and chat to winemakers anywhere in the world.

The fact that wineries can no longer receive visitors, and that many wine importers and wholesalers who supply restaurants have no current market, has been a game-changer thanks to video apps such as Zoom and Instagram Live. And the real beauty of it is that this works just as well for the smallest retailer as the biggest wine producer. One small wine shop, Vineyards of Sherborne (@vineyards_wine on Instagram), enterprisingly hosted a live chat with award-winning Argentinian winemaker Andrés Vignoni of Viña Cobos, whose luscious malbec, Felino, the shop stocks as part of its Wine Goes Live case. Such operators may a bit more expensive than the bigger online retailers, as you’ll see from the panel below, but the relationship with their customers is clearly much more personal.

While the Wine Society’s buyers host masterclasses for its members, anyone can access their expertise on Instagram, and I particularly enjoy A Glass with Marce, which features their genial and increasingly hirsute wine buyer Marcel Orford-Williams.

Even the unbelievably posh 67 Pall Mall (@67pall_mall) is now running three or four free masterclasses a day featuring big names such as Penfold’s Peter Gago and South Africa’s Adi Badenhorst. You can find numerous other events on virtualwineevents.com, which is hosted by blogger Amber LeBeau – on a recent Tuesday evening, I counted all of 25.

There are, however, a few downsides to the Zoom boom, one being that it doesn’t get you away from your screen. It also assumes a furloughed audience without too many pressing meetings and deadlines, rather than the wine-loving parents of demanding three-year-olds (though Honest Grapes has nailed that with its Wine Therapy nights, which run from 8.30pm-9.30pm)

It’s also true that not all online tastings are riveting – amateur presenters are sometimes prone to letting their enthusiasm for the subject run away with them – but this is a real opportunity to break through the snobbery that too often still surrounds wine. Seize it!

Four wines to enjoy on your own or with others online

Château Bauduc Bordeaux Rosé 2019

£71.70 for a six-bottle case (ie, £11.95 a bottle), direct from the estate, bauduc.com, 12%. Fashionably pale, but fruitier than many Provençal rosés, with a delicious taste of wild strawberries.

Frontonio Microcosmico Macabeo 2017 £13.08 Jascots, 14%. Seductively scented, mouthwateringly aromatic, Spanish white from a supplier who normally sells only to restaurants. Perfect for sipping on a sunny evening.

Viña Cobos Felino 2018 £13.19 thedrinkshop.com and drinksandco.co.uk, £85.50 for a six-bottle case vineyardsofsherborne.co.uk, 14.5%. Big, lush, gorgeous, Argie malbec. What more need I say?

Summer Road Old Vine Grenache 2019 £8.49 Waitrose, 14.5%. Despite the alcohol (grenache always tends to be high), this is a bright, breezy, South Australian red that would be perfect, lightly chilled, with a barbecue.

• For more by Fiona Beckett, go to matchingfoodandwine.com