You know, although I've been broadening my knowledge of cocktails and spirits for years by speaking to bartenders, taking classes and collecting quite a few books I've always felt really overwhelmed when it comes to the world of wine. It seems like a much more closed world and I can't lie, I've felt pretty intimidated by a lot of the wine experts I have met (although I have been lucky enough to find some lovely welcoming shops with amazingly friendly and helpful staff) which is why I was so thrilled to hear from The Wine List because is exactly why the founder Josh started the business!
I'm one of those people that takes joy in 'nerving out' on the things they love and I know that being able to learn as freely as I can is a privilege not everyone has access to, so I get kind of mad when people in the know are cagey about their knowledge. To me helping people learn about something they love is a joy and that's clearly how Josh feels too, with his mission to make learning about wine more accessible and less daunting.
The Wine List is a subscription service that sends you two bottles of wine per month, specifically selected as great examples to help you learn about that style of wine. You won't find these bottles in the supermarket as they've been specially imported for the subscription, but if you love them you can buy more from The Wine List's online shop after trying them if you wish. Along with the bottles you get tasting cards with information on the producers and the vineyard and the wine itself and an interactive side for you to fill in with whoever is lucky enough to share the bottles with you.
In your first box you'll also receive a 12 month learning plan and some introductory information on how to get the most from subscription and every month as well as learning about the bottles you've received you'll find out about a wine principle. This could be something like how the weather affects a wine or how different wines are fermented, but each principle will build your knowledge and make it so that you can look at bottles in a wine shop and be able to get an idea of what they will taste like by reading the labels. Right now I know the names of the wine types I like and I get real happy when I see a description written by the seller or on the bottle itself, but this isn't always the case and a lot of the time I'm kind of buying blind so this aspect of the subscription is a huge plus for me.
Naturally I shared my bottles with my husband and we really enjoyed taking the cues from the tasting notes cards and seeing what aspects we each picked out. A lot of the time we got the same - but not always! We actually waited around a week after the bottles arrived and in that time we received 'The Answers' email showing how the actual experts had filled in the tasting cards and we were pretty chuffed that most of our answers were very similar.
We had a great time with this subscription that I think is especially great during this crazy time as it's a new and different way to spend some quality time together while increasing your knowledge. The amount of thought and intention that goes into choosing the bottles and producing the information you're sent is clear, so it appeals to not only my wine loving side but my cultural nerd side and my design loving side - did I mention that everything is designed beautifully including the website? I'm really excited to continue learning about wine so I can make more intentioned decisions in shops and restaurants when choosing a bottle, but also to have regular excuses to sit with Pete and share in our love of vino.
If you'd like to try The Wine List yourself you can use the code WL_5T7W to get 30% off your first box!
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