Wine tasting formats

Fine Wine Reserve tastings usually follow one of two formats: the informal "drop-in tasting" or the "sit-down tutored tasting". Format selection is at the discretion of the agent or winery. At the "drop-in" event, guests come and go as they please (within their session limits) - to meet you, your winemaker and to sample the product being presented. At the "Tutored Tasting", the guests all arrive at once, and take a seat at our tasting table. The flight of wines is placed in front of them, and the winery owner, winemaker or other representative then leads the group through a more formal presentation of each wine.

You may run a single session, or hold two or three consecutive sessions. Multiple sessions can be an effective way of working around our clients' busy schedules thus increasing turnout. For example, an early to mid-afternoon session for licensees and media, a late-afternoon session for clients wanting to be home by dinner and an early evening session for those stuck at the office. Drop in event capacity depends on session length, but we can usually accommodate up to 35 guests per session. At a sit down tasting, we can accommodate up to 20 guests per session.

Usually, we ask the guest list be a mix of Fine Wine Reserve clients and agent/winery contacts (approximately 50:50). Should you only want it exclusively for your own group of private clients or vice versa, we may be able to accommodate you. Events can be put together on very short notice, such as when a visiting winemaker makes an unscheduled stop, but we recommend a month's notice for a strong turn-out.