The world is not recovering from its travel bind anytime soon, and that means leisurely visits to vineyards, wine estates and champagne houses won’t be a reality for most of us in the foreseeable future.
That’s why Vivant, a newly launched live streaming platform dedicated to wine, the first of its kind in the world, has such a promising premise.
The interactive online platform is at once an education and entertainment tool, connecting winemakers, wine experts and interested consumers together in a seamless way.
They’ve promised to be able to take us on live virtual tours of wineries from regions the likes of Bordeaux, Burgundy and the Loire, all without ever stepping on an airplane.
While that’s all well and good, the real question is how does Vivant provide more than what existing general live streaming platforms already do. How does it differ from Zoom or Facebook Live?
We find two compelling features. The first are its Experience Kits. You won’t just be feasting your eyes on the beautiful vineyards on screen, but actually be able to taste the wines for yourself.
These are shipped globally, and you can further purchase bottles that you like as well.
There’s also an Interactive Tasting Method feature that helps take the platform up another level. On it find a flavour wheel, showcasing notes you might find in a wine, like oak, stone fruits, or minerality.
Play with it then compare your findings with that from an expert, allowing you to learn while having a bit of friendly competition with other wine lovers as well.
A third, unofficial feature we find compelling is its community. Unlike other generic platforms, you can be assured to find only a passionate wine community among Vivant’s users.
Vivant has launched with wine experiences from Bordeaux, Burgundy and the Loire, with new experiences from Champagne being available from Dec 20.
Experiences from Alsace will be released in Jan 2021, while wine regions in Italy, Germany, Spain and beyond are also set to be released later next year.
Vivant works by membership access, starting at S$239 (US$149) annually.