As enjoyable as it is to enjoy wine drinking with many people, it isn’t necessarily easy to do these days. The good news is that you can hold a virtual happy hour with all your friends wherever you are. You and everyone else can get together online and try various wines.

But you’ll have to look at what you’re doing when planning a wine discussion. You’ve got to plan your wine event by looking at how people will contact you and what you’re going to offer.

There are a few points to review when getting your special wine tasting event up and running. The key is to see that everyone is on the same page during a wine tasting event and that there will be plenty of wines for everyone to appreciate and try.

Plan Everything Well

The first point for your virtual happy hour is to look at how the wine tasting event will occur. You’ll need to plan your tasting at the right time, not to mention you should have the proper software for the event, whether it entails Zoom or Skype or WhatsApp.

A good planning tip is to hold the virtual happy hour later in the day. Hold it after dinner, as it will be a time when people can relax and taste the wines they’re interested in the most. You could also have the party during everyone’s dinner hours if you insist on having these wines alongside certain items.

The time of the week you plan your wine tasting can make a difference. It’s often best to have such events on weekends. Friday and Saturday nights are traditionally social times where people can get together and have fun with one another. You can schedule your wine tasting for the weekend, although you could also plan it at any other time that people might want to participate.

How Will You Plan the Meetup?

You’ll need to look at how you can plan the meetup with everyone online. The great news is that you’ve got plenty of options to consider for your upcoming wine discussion. Among these choices include the following:

Zoom is free to use and provides support for chats, HD audio and video, and multiple videos on one screen.Google Hangouts works well for people who have Google accounts. People can share screens and project HD video.Skype has been one of the world’s top video conferencing programs for years. You can program an interactive video chat with your friends through Skype.FreeConference works on a web browser and features full moderator controls. You don’t have to download anything new to use FreeConference.Facebook Live is best for people who are friends with each other on Facebook. It uses a secure connection where everyone can log onto Facebook to get access to a private chat.

Each of these options is useful, but you’ll need to check on what they feature. Be advised that the free versions of many video conferencing programs may have limits. But being able to get in touch with your friends for such an event will still be worthwhile.

You should also look at how well the camera on your computer can take a shot of you and your wine. You have to show everyone at the party what the wine looks like, not to mention you can display it to help people compare how well it looks to others. The move is part of the social aspect of a wine tasting event. It lets people compare wines and see what stands out the most.

Plan a Theme

One idea to consider for wine drinking during your virtual get-together is to create a sensible theme. The best idea is to have a wine tasting event that features wines from the same region or winery. You could consider offering wines from the Miles Wine Cellars, for instance.

Your theme doesn’t have to focus on the wine concept. You can plan anything from a beach-themed wine tasting to something relating to the spring season. Anything that adds a bit of fun to the occasion always helps.

What Wines Are Available?

Another point is to consider thinking about the wine types you’re going to offer. You can consider having a variety of red and white wines if you prefer. You could use wines from Miles Wine Cellars like the Ghost Chardonnay, Cache, or Dry Riesling wines if you’re looking for something lighter. Red wines like the Milestone Merlot or Cabernet Franc could also work.

You should consider the wines that the people at your wine discussion would prefer to enjoy. The virtual happy hour will be more entertaining if the people there are enthusiastic about the wines you’re offering.

Let everyone know beforehand the ideal conditions for the wine. Some wines might need to be chilled before served. Others can be enjoyed at room temperature. Every wine has different needs, so check on the general recommendations based on the wine type you are serving.

Serving Materials

Everyone at the virtual tasting should have the recommended glasses for the event. The proper wine glass shape will support how well the nose can receive the aromatic vapors coming from the wine. A Chardonnay glass would require a wider body, for example. Let people know what glasses they should have, if possible. The right glasses can make a world of difference when trying out wines.

It will not matter if the glasses have stems or if they are stemless. Each person has a preference for whether a stem is necessary for the glass.

Consider the Food Pairings

You should be aware of how well your wines will pair with various foods. There are many wine pairing options to review, although the options you can utilize should be flexible and varied:

Chardonnay goes best with semi-soft cheeses, chicken, pork, and lobster. Riesling is suitable for smoked meats and foods with various spices. Barbeque, Indian, and Thai foods are among the best ones here. Merlot does well with grilled meats and fish. You can pair Merlot with chocolate, provided that the Merlot is sweeter than the chocolate.Cabernet Franc is great with many roasted meat dishes. It also does well with hard and soft cheeses alike.

The key is to ensure your wine doesn’t overwhelm the dishes. Try and encourage the people at your virtual tasting event to plan the same dishes if possible. They should all have the opportunity to enjoy the wines you want to showcase.

You can always consider cheeses and chocolates during a tasting, especially if you’re planning your event after dinner. But you should be specific when letting people know what cheeses or chocolates everyone should have during the event. Look at the wines you’re planning and figure out which items go well with those items. You don’t want anything that will overwhelm the wines or clash with some of the flavors.

You could still have everyone at the party try their own food and wine combinations if desired. Everyone can share ideas on what mixes are best. With so many choices or ideas to consider, it helps to figure out different pairings that fit in well.

Be Sure the Wines Are Available

The next thing to do is to see that the wines for the wine drinking event will be available to everyone. Miles Wine Cellars ships its wines to most parts of the United States, for instance. Think about how long it would take for your wine party guests to receive the wines for the event. It should not take too long, but it helps to be aware of things.

Other Activities

You’ll find that a wine tasting event can entail many activities. The same can be said for virtual happy hours. You can get plan an assortment of things during your wine session:

Have everyone draw what they feel the label on the bottle would look like. You can compare everything with what the bottle really looks like. The game lets people think about what they see when enjoying wine.Have the guests describe the wines they’re tasting. See what they think about these wines. You can figure out if they can identify the specific tones or flavors in each wine.You could play trivia with your friends during the virtual wine tasting. Each person can ask everyone else fun questions about anything. The questions should be sensible and fun, although it helps to provide hints in some cases.Have people create small arts or crafts projects relating to wine. They could make fun wine-related things out of anything, from corks to glasses to toothpicks for the food.

There’s no limit to what you can do during a wine tasting event. But you’ll need to ensure the things you’re planning are ones that everyone at the party will appreciate.

A virtual happy hour will make for a fun time between you and your friends even when you are away. Be sure you plan your wine tasting event well and that everyone is on the same page.