Got sent this short (2:41) clip by @FullertonWines from their Rose on the Roof virtual tasting. And while I haven't watched the full longer event, there are several things that I see so far which are really good about this VT 1/

The first thing that I love is that it's out of the tasting room. Nearly every really sucky VT I watched took place in either the tasting room or the barrel room.

PLEASE, get out of these rooms! This lulls you into treating VTs like just a regular tasting appt. It's not! 2/

So TL:DR summary

1.) Get out of the tasting & barrel room.
2.) Make the event feel more special than a regular tasting
3.) More storytelling, less tasting & tech notes
4.) Give people those behind the scene's glimpses into how winemakers think

10/10

Think about the advantages of these digital platforms that you're squandering by keeping the event isolated to tasting rooms/barrel rooms.

Here you have the chance to show consumers something special, something different that they usually don't get to see. 3/

Instead, take them to the lab. Take them to fermentation room. Take them to the crush pad.

Take them to places that you would usually have to worry about liability issues--especially w/ tipsy patrons. Because, hey, that's not a problem with virtual events! 4/

The next thing I like about this clip is that it spends far more time with the storytelling than on tasting notes or on the terroir/vineyards.

The story of a father-son having disagreements over winemaking and how they resolved it is interesting. It's relatable. 5/

Finally, something that you see here and in many of the better VTs are the "Think Like a Winemaker" MasterClass sort of moments.

This is a fertile angle (and branding) that is not really being exploited in many web events. 6/

For those who sub to MasterClass, Chris Hadfield's on how to think like an astronaut nails this.

To wine-lovers, the idea of being a winemaker is kind of a dream job they'll never have. Getting glimpses into how a winemaking thinks is interesting 7/ https://www.masterclass.com/classes/chris-hadfield-teaches-space-exploration

You don't have to get into the nitty-gritty UC-Davis technical stuff but share some of those glimpses of how you approach things. Build wine events around things like:

Think Like a Winemaker: Blending
Think Like a Winemaker: Build wines to age (or drink soon)
8/

The advantage to this approach (& using your wines as product placement props instead of the main feature) is that even wine lovers who have never heard of your wines before have a reason to be interested in attending.

You have a hook that is near universal. 9/