“And the wine with the true wowza factor for me was the Josmeyer Hengst Pinot Gris 2015,” writes Smart.
It’s a bit galling to admit that Silicon Valley types can bring anything to French winemaking. But maybe Michael Baum, the American technologist/entrepreneur who famously purchased Château de Pommard in Burgundy, may have grasped something fundamental: that the essential challenge is no longer just making fine wines but broadening their appeal to new, and sometimes untutored, palates. It’s about accessibility and congeniality, rather than snobbery.
His latest initiative is called Vivant (pronounced, inevitably, in the American way) which sells wine ‘experiences’. These are essentially online tastings on a particular wine region. At ours it’s ‘Grand Cru Terroir Tradition in Alsace’. Other upcoming topics are ‘Chenin Blanc: The Chameleon of the Loire’ and the ‘Art of Blending in Bordeaux’.
As you would expect, there is a good deal of hype: Baum describes Vivant as ‘the future of wine’. But the live online presentation oozes Gallic charm with women confidently represented, and the production values sky high; the ‘educational’ aspects are done deftly and the level of interaction is well-judged. In fact, the whole thing is done so slickly resistance is futile.
Each session is classified as beginner, intermediate etc. There are also several descriptors such as ‘taste with friends’, ‘date night’ or ‘for serious wine geeks’. The annual subscription is £149 and then the sample wines for each sessions cost extra – ours were around £55 for six 100 ml tubes which seemed fair. And you can, of course, order the favourite bottles you have sampled.
Ahead of the session, wines arrive packed to perfection and easily deserving of an Instagram unboxing clip. We have a selection of whites, showing off Pinot Gris, Riesling and Gewürztraminer and costing from £23 to £53 a bottle, putting them in the ‘pricey but affordable’ category.
Let me mention just three. Of the Gewürztraminers, the Gustave Lorentz Altenberg de Bergheim 2012 (14% AVB) was a lovely, nicely restrained expression of the varietal’s floral characteristics. Among the Rieslings, the Marc Kreydenweiss Kastelberg Riesling 2018 (13% AVB) (£53) stood out, displaying great characteristics such as petrol, stone fruits, and a naturally high acidity. And the wine with the true wowza factor for me was the Josmeyer Hengst Pinot Gris 2015 (14% AVB) (£46) with a beautiful gold colour, white peach, stone fruits and citrus – and quite fresh. Like many wineries in Alsace, Josmeyer has been handed down from father to daughters.
Will the purists, old farts and wine dorks be queuing for the Vivant experience? I doubt it. But the level of personalisation makes for a beguiling offer which should survive the lifting of lockdown. If you want to share the pleasure you get from fine wines with friends (some maybe less erudite) in a social setting, this is an excellent place to start.
