I attended the virtual food and wine tasting event organized by Mandi Robertson from “A Walk on the Wine Side” November 6 2020. Food was provided from the popular restaurant Brasserie T! which I love. We tasted two wines from Spain.
El Petit Bonhomme Blanco was the first wine we tried. This lovely white from the Duero Valley is 100% Verdejo and 13.5% alcohol. A nice light golden colour, fresh in the mouth, with aromas and flavours of citrus and a subtle hint of green apple. It was paired beautifully well first with a cauliflower cream soup, then with halibut croquet and bean puree. Beautiful creative label. I loved this white wine!
It was great to see Nathalie Bonhomme attending the virtual event when we were tasting El Petit Bonhomme Blanco as this is HER wine. Indeed, Nathalie is the winemaker behind the El Bonhomme wines made in Spain.
Parajes del Valle was the red wine chosen for the main course – duck confit risotto. This pairing worked really well. This is an organic wine 100% Monastrell from Jumilla, a Spanish “Denominación de Origen Protegida” (DOP) area for wines that extend over the north of the region of Murcia, Spain. It is one of Spain's leading wine regions. Nice red ruby colour with aromas and flavours of cherries. 13.5% alcohol. Lovely original bottle design. I loved this red wine!
The two wines we tasted from Spain are available at the SAQ:
El Petit Bonhomme Blanco Rueda 2019 - My favourite!
Parajes del Valle Monastrell Jumilla 2018 - I loved this wine!
This was a fun virtual wine tasting event and what made it special was the three-course meal included from a well-known restaurant. The interaction between those attending was also casual and fun – it felt like a small group dinner online.
I expect to see more sommeliers and restaurants getting into it and start organizing fun and virtual wine tasting events. There are many formulas for virtual wine tasting events currently available: some include the wines, and some don’t, while a few include food as well. One has to try a few before finding the one it prefers.
Have you attended virtual wine tasting events this year? What are the best ones you’ve attended? Any recommendations?