By Romy Stephens
With weekend visits to Yarra Valley wineries off for now, 29 of the regions’ best producers are bringing their cellar door experience to people’s homes.
From 9 April, Wine Yarra Valley will kick off Virtual Cellar Doors, an initiative which will allow wine lovers to head online and visit cellar doors from the comfort of their living room.
The visits will take place every Thursday at 5pm in the shape of a video posted to Instagram and then a livestream chat with a winemaker.
Head winemaker at Yarra Yering Sarah Crowe said it is an opportunity for wineries to unite during a time of need.
“It’s a great community spirited thing to do, particularly at a time like this when all of us have had to close our cellar doors,” she said.
Ms Crowe said she hoped the experience will allow more people to understand the beauty of wine.
“Wine can be intimidating for people and that’s why visiting the cellar door is such a good experience. Our tasting room staff can be very sympathetic and match their communication styles,” she said.
“Hopefully this helps break down some of the stereotypes about wine.
“The idea is that customers can interact with us as winemakers and find out what we might cook at home to match with that wine.
“I hope they get a deeper understanding of the Yarra Valley, the beautiful wines that come out of there and the passion and commitment of the winemakers.”
Ms Crowe added that it’s an important time for people to take a moment to relax with a glass of wine and some sort of social interaction.
“A lot of people are quite stressed and have a lot of worries at the moment,” she said.
“If we can bring a bit of fun or pleasure to someone’s evening then I think that is beautiful.
“What’s made me really happy about this is the way everyone’s working together as a community to keep our businesses and keep the valley open.”
As well as taking part in Virtual Cellar Doors, wine lovers can also pick from two different mixed six-packs on the Wine Yarra Valley website to be shipped to their door.
The Yarra Valley Virtual Cellar Door Pack will include a curated six bottle selection from different Yarra Valley producers.
This pack will change every six weeks to include a new selection of wines to taste.
The Pick Your Own Pack provides a customised mixed six-pack from a selection of over 40 different Yarra Valley wines.
To purchase packs, visit wineyarravalley.com.au and to tune into Virtual Cellar Doors follow Wine Yarra Valley on Instagram.
Those enjoying their wine are encouraged to post photos on Instagram using the hashtag #YarraValleyAtHome.
