Last week, I moderated three virtual wine events: two guided tastings and one wine dinner. For one of those tastings, the 100+ guests joined from as far away as New York City and Malibu as they tasted wines that had been shipped to them previously. (I also interpreted for a medical conference with literally 600+ people on it from across the globe.)

The future of virtual tastings and events is here and now. And the experiences have surprised and thrilled me in ways entirely unexpected.

This Wednesday, I’ll be on panel discussing the future of virtual food and wine trade fairs. It’s being organized by the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce (my client) and is open to all. Registration required: click here to sign up.

Jack Cohen Martin, tech guru and founder of GrapeIn, will also be on the call. And so will Tom Dobson, the Italian wine buyer at the mighty Spec’s (Italian winemakers, this is a great way to get to interact with him).

Then on Thursday, I’ll be welcoming Clemens Lageder via Zoom for the weekly virtual wine dinner I host.

Clemens is a lovely guy and a great speaker. And I love his family’s wines. I’m especially looking forward to turning people on to their Alpine Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

But I’m even more stoked about pairing those wines with Chef Angelo’s canederli, one of my all-time favorite dishes: the classic central European Knödel, dumplings stuffed with cheese and speck (the Italian matzah ball!).

Houstonians, click here for menu and reservation details. This is going to be a fun one.

Thanks for being here and thanks for supporting Italian wines and the people who make and love them. Hope to see you at one of my events this week.