With the closure of venues around the country, local wineries are finding new ways to create immersive experiences for customers. Whether it’s guided tastings, VR cellar door tours, or finding ways to still buy direct from your favourite producers, there’s plenty to discover in the virtual world of Australian wine.
- Seppeltsfield If this iconic South Australian winery has been on your to-visit list for a while, this virtual reality tour of the Seppeltsfield Barossa village gives you a full 360-degree experience. Scroll manually on desktop or mobile, or fully immerse yourself in VR mode on your smartphone with a paired headset (pictured image 3/3). Find out more.
- Feathertop Wines The best part of visiting any cellar door is learning about the product directly from the producer. Alpine Valley’s Feathertop Winery has deployed winemaker Nick Toy to create a suite of virtual cellar door information sessions, complete with tasting notes. These are broken down by current release varietals. Find out more.
- Patrick of Coonawarra Patrick of Coonawarra’s cellar door is ready for you to stop by – online, that is. Using the Zoom platform, the winery will be “open” Monday to Friday from 12pm to 5pm for users to log on and ask staff anything they might like to know about wine, winemaking or what it’s like for small businesses in the current climate. Find out more.
For access to virtual reality tours and wine resources...
- Clover Hill Tasmanian sparkling wine brand Clover Hill is providing virtual vineyard tours, advanced wine education and masterclass kits to its members – all you have to do is sign up. A free segment, Connect with Clover Hill, will run each Friday evening via Facebook Live, where Clover Hill cellar door manager Ian White will take viewers through wine entertainment and education. Find out more.
- Innocent Bystander Join Innocent Bystander’s resident sommelier Margaret for weekly varietal-specific education sessions. From Perusing Pinot Noir to Gabbing ’bout Gamay, there’s something for everyone. If you live locally, you can purchase from the cellar door’s takeaway menu for the complete experience. Find out more.
- Good Pair Days Join the sommeliers from tailored wine subscription service Good Pair Days for their Weekly Wine Chat via Zoom. Follow their Facebook feed to find out the featured weekly varietals and for access to the Zoom sessions. Don’t worry, if you miss out, the sessions stay up on their Instagram for 24 hours (pictured image 1/3). Find out more.
- Wine Yarra Valley To support local wineries during this tough time, the Yarra Valley Wine Growers Association is launching “Wine Down” chats and tastings via their Instagram @wineyarravalley. Every Thursday, a different producer will take you through a guided tasting and information session – you can pre-purchase the wines on offer here (pictured image 2/3). Find out more.
- COMING SOON: Halliday at Home In partnership with Vintage Cellars, Halliday editor Amelia Ball and James Halliday himself will be conducting an educational series on Australian regions, styles and varietals. Purchase your bundle of three highly-rated wines through Vintage Cellars for your exclusive access to Halliday at Home content. Subscribe to our newsletter for more details to come.
- From the Producer The invention of tech guru and philanthropist John Cameron, From the Producer was initially started to help wineries cut out the middleman in online sales, and plays no part other than acting as a communication platform between producer and consumer. Home to all the big household names, but also to a vast range of boutique and independent producers, From the Producer makes it possible for businesses to sell their product without an existing e-commerce platform. Shipping is cheaper if you’re local to the winery, or free on all purchases over $200. The best part? The structure maximises the profit for the producer – just like buying directly from a cellar door. Find out more.
To take part in guided tasting events...
To purchase direct, all in one place...
Image credit: Good Pair Days, Wine Yarra Valley, The Advertiser.
