I don’t have a cellar door. I run a few tasting events through the year, but there aren’t many, and most people who’d like to try my wines will never make it to one.
So I made the tasting kit. Buying wine online means paying for a bottle you’ve never tasted, and I’d rather you didn’t have to. Pick three 100 mL tubes from the McLaren Vale range, taste them at home in your own time, and work out what’s worth a full bottle before you spend more.
What’s in the kit
$35 gets you three 100 mL tubes, delivered free. You choose from four wines: Flōrus Fiano, Ignis Tempranillo, Suāvis GSM and Fortis Shiraz.
Each tube comes with a card telling you a bit about the wine. Scan the QR code and you’ll land on that wine’s page, where I taste it on video and talk you through it. The card also has a Spotify code. Scan it in the Spotify app and you’ll get a playlist I’ve put together for that wine. The same playlist is on the product page if you’d rather listen there.
The kit also includes a $20 card towards your first six-bottle order.
Which three wines should you choose?
If you usually drink white but want to try some reds, include the Flōrus Fiano and add two reds. One white next to two reds makes the differences easy to pick up.
If you’re already a red drinker, Ignis, Fortis and Suāvis give you Tempranillo, Shiraz and a GSM (Grenache, Shiraz and Mataro) side by side.
Already curious about one wine? Start there and add two you haven’t tried. You don’t need to know your favourite grape before you order. Working that out is what the tubes are for.
How to taste them at home
You don’t need much: clean glasses, some water and something to write on.
If you’ve picked a white, start with that and move on to the reds. Smell each wine before you taste it, then take a small sip and notice how it feels as well as how it tastes. Fresh, soft, firm, round? Does it remind you of fruit, herbs, spice? Whatever words come to mind are the right ones.
Write down what you actually notice. “Great with dinner”, or "yummy" is a more useful note than anything you’d borrow from a wine review!
Try a little food alongside the wine
Taste each wine on its own first, then have it again with something to eat. Bread, cheese or a bit of your dinner is fine. Even nuts, potato chips, or salami will work well. Each wine’s page has food matches if you want a starting point.
Pay attention to whether the food changes your mind. A wine you liked on its own might not be the one you want with a meal, and the other way round. It’s worth knowing when you’re choosing bottles, because you probably don’t need one wine to do everything.
From a tasting tube to your next six bottles
Once you’ve found a favourite, scan its card again and have another look at the page. Your $20 card goes towards your first six-bottle order, so you’re choosing bottles you’ve already tasted.
Choose your Vin Sōl tasting kit and pick your three.
