Saturday, September 18, 2021

Pikes Wines 2021 New Vintage Virtual Tastings

Due to the covid situation in Australia, Pikes Winery in the Clare Valley, South Australia had to abandon, for the second year in a row, their new vintage wine tasting road show in the various state capitals.
Instead they sent a selection of wines, whites, reds and premiums to potential consumers on request.
Then, via Zoom, they offered a virtual tasting with the winemaker and other company staff.
I did all three. They lasted over an hour each and were informative and good fun with some enthusiastic and humorous participants.
We didn’t open all the bottles. 16 over 3 nights would have been too much for just two of us given wine in open bottles only last 3-5 days. But we had the tasting notes and relied on others’ opinions. Plus, we have never had a bad Pikes.

The wines sent plus those available for order on the night were offered at very attractive prices.
We ordered a mixed dozen, a rose and whites (marked in pink), as we already have a big collection of Pikes reds. Their Rieslings, as normal, were special.
I was a bit puzzled however at the Zoom numbers. The most participants on my sessions were 15.
But it was revealed that Pikes had sent out the maximum 500 tasting packs and most had taken advantage of the good prices but not the tasting.
They company was apparently happy with that.
Hopefully next year we can return to in person tastings.

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