Wine Therapy: Brunello Masterclass with Honest Grapes
A year into lockdown life and Honest Grapes are pros at online tastings and masterclasses. One look at the events page on their website and you’ll see that they are quenching the thirst of wine buffs on a regular basis throughout the month, month after month. Who said that staying at home meant having an empty calendar?
Classic wine regions are very much their thing and they can talk Burgundy, Bordeaux, the Northern Rhône and Tuscany, unscripted, until the sun comes up – which is why I knew I’d be in good hands when it came to the Brunello wines of Montalcino.
Brunello happens to be a real passion of Tom’s (Honest Grapes’ co-founder). Even though you’d be forgiven for thinking that Tom is passionate about every wine he talks about, it seems like Brunello really has his heart: “You can get disappointing Bordeaux and Burgundy, but never Brunello.”
After signing up online, participants receive a box through the post containing six 50ml sample bottles and a Zoom link via email. When the time comes, line up your glasses, log on, sit back, relax and relish being taken through the selection of wines by an expert. Or sit up and scribble notes instead – whichever mode of enjoyment you prefer.
Tom is a human guidebook of vintages, critics’ comments and wine comparisons, and if you’re familiar with these references, you’ll think you’ve found your home. The chat box is a place where you can join in and indulge your inner wine nerd – you’d be in very good company. Though the tasting is led by Tom, other members of the Honest Grapes team are at hand to answer any questions in the chat box, creating an interactive element to the tasting.
If you don’t have a certain level of wine knowledge, you might get lost in the reams of vintage and producer references, but the wines more than make up for that. They are sublime examples of their kind, so even if you don’t know your ‘07s from your ‘09s, you can sink into the wines and have fun comparing them at your own pace.
Honest Grapes tastings are packed to the brim and before you know it an hour has flown by. You’re merrily dishevelled from a whistle stop tour of the region, head full of new facts and body full of good wine. “Fascinating and informative”, someone said on the chat – a happy convert to this new form of after-dinner entertainment. Virtual wine masterclasses not only provide an activity for an hour, but they also create a community, that lasts long after the hour is over. Let’s hope they last long after the lockdown is over too, because they’ve opened the door to the wine world for many people and I don’t think it’s going to shut anytime soon.
Check out the Honest Grapes masterclasses here.