Coravin, Inc. Hosts World's Largest Virtual Wine Tasting

Wine Enthusiasts from Around the World Join Together to Benefit the James Beard Foundation Food and Beverage Industry Relief Fund

News provided by

Coravin

Apr 21, 2020, 09:30 ET

BEDFORD, Mass., April 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CORAVIN, Inc., the premier global wine technology company, gathered more than 9,400 wine enthusiasts and supporters over a favorite glass in a quest to host the World's Largest Virtual Wine Tasting benefiting the James Beard Foundation Food and Beverage Industry Relief Fund. For a few short hours on a Friday, Coravin set out to unite people across the globe through a common passion for wine, providing a welcome escape from the COVID-19 climate and paying tribute to friends and colleagues in the food and beverage industry. Participants joined from virtually all corners of the globe, including the United States, Spain, France, Italy, Croatia, Netherlands, Argentina, Dominican Republic and Australia.

Coravin's World's Largest Virtual Wine Tasting - Guest Hosts

Designed to showcase the wine industry, Coravin tapped into master sommeliers, winemakers, influencers and educators from around the world to help host this unique Facebook Live event. Greg Lambrecht, Coravin's founder and inventor, joined seven close friends and wine world colleagues in a panel discussion highlighting different wine regions. Each guest selected a bottle of white and a bottle of red, then shared tasting notes and personal anecdotes of their wines while engaging with viewers in real time discussion and answers to their questions. The tasting hosts used their Coravin Wine Preservation Systems with SmartClamps™ to pour their glasses of wine without removing the cork, ensuring what remained in the bottle stayed fresh for weeks, months or even years. This technology not only allows users to taste across bottles without opening them, it also enables tasting wines at various stages of aging since the remaining wine is protected from oxidation.

To support Coravin's core values and help those impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, Coravin united with the James Beard Foundation Food and Beverage Industry Relief Fund. The Foundation's Relief Fund aims to provide critical financial assistance to small, independent restaurants who have an immediate need for funds to pay set operating expenses and keep from going out of business.

"We've worked closely with the restaurant and winery industry since the company was founded, and have many great friends who are struggling right now," said Greg Lambrecht, founder and inventor of Coravin. "We were anxious to partner with our friends at the James Beard Foundation to help promote the rapid steps they are taking to support the industry through their Relief Fund."

For every person that joined the Facebook Live event, Coravin donated $20 to benefit the James Beard Foundation Relief Fund, which resulted in the full $50,000 donation being made! To continue showing its support, the company is working with Brands x Better to donate 10% of all purchases made on its website (Coravin.com) using the code BrandBetter to the Relief Fund. Consumers also receive 10% off their purchase when they use the code.

"We are so grateful to Coravin for their support of our Food and Beverage Industry Relief Fund efforts," said Kris Moon, Chief Operating Officer of the James Beard Foundation. "We recently conducted a survey of independent food and beverage businesses across America which revealed that only 1 in 5 operators felt confident that their business could remain open until normal operations resume. These businesses are essential to the fabric of their communities and we are committed to ensuring there is a vibrant culinary community on the other side of this. We look forward to putting these incredible funds to work in support of these independent businesses."

Tasting hosts included:

Greg Lambrecht, Coravin founder, inventor and host
Andrea Robinson, Master Sommelier, James Beard Award Winner, author, TV host

Representing region: U.S./Napa Valley, California
Wine selection: 2016 Smith-Madrone Chardonnay and 2018 Brown Estate "Chaos Theory" Red Blend

Dave McIntyre, The Washington Post Wine Columnist, Certified Sommelier

Representing region: U.S./Maryland/Virginia
Wine selection: Early Mountain Vineyards 2018 Petit Manseng and Big Cork Vineyards 2016 Petit Verdot Reserve

Federico Ceretto, Winemaker, Ceretto

Representing region: Italy/Langhe, Piedmont
Wine selection: Ceretto Monsordo Bianco 2019 Langhe DOC and Ceretto Barolo Brunate 2015 DOCG

Lucas Paya, WSET, Wine Consultant, House of Lustau US National Brand Educator

Representing region: Spain/Jerez and Rivera del Duero
Wine selection: Lustau Almacenista G. Obregón Fino del Puerto NV Palomino Fino and Vega Sicilia Único 1994 Tempranillo Blend

Peter Granoff, Master of Wine, Founder Virtual Vineyards, Co-owner Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant & Wine Bar, Oxbow Cheese & Wine Merchant, Mission Bay Wine & Cheese

Representing region: U.S./Sonoma and Central Coast, California
Wine selection: 2018 Wonderwall Syrah, Central Coast and 2018 Unti Vineyards Fiano, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma

Tim Kirk, Chief Winemaker/CEO, Clonakilla Wines

Representing region: Australia/Yarra Valley and Canberra District
Wine selection: Oakridge 2018 Willowlake Yarra Valley Chardonnay and Clonakilla 2015 Shiraz Viognier

Veronique Sanders, President, CEO & Managing Director, Château Hait-Bailly

Representing region: France/Bordeaux
Wine selection: L'Extravagant de Doisy-Daëne 2010 and Château Haut-Brion 2007

About Coravin, Inc.

Coravin, Inc. is a privately held company located in Bedford, Massachusetts dedicated to the advancement of wine technology around the world. Coravin designs and markets the Coravin Wine Preservation System for wine enthusiasts, restaurants, wine stores and wineries. Unparalleled in craftsmanship and design, Coravin uses proprietary patented technology to access and pour wine from a bottle without removing the cork. Wine enthusiasts can now enjoy wine sealed with corks without feeling the need to commit to the whole bottle, allowing them to explore wines of any vintage, varietal or region, one glass at a time. With Coravin, wine, after being accessed, remains in the bottle, continuing to evolve naturally, without the damaging effects of oxidation, for weeks, months or even years. For more information, please visit www.coravin.com.

About The James Beard Foundation

About the James Beard Foundation The James Beard Foundation's mission is to promote Good Food for Good™. For more than 30 years, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization has highlighted the centrality of food culture in our daily lives. Through the James Beard Awards, unique dining experiences at the James Beard House and around the country, scholarships, hands-on learning, and a variety of industry programs that educate and empower leaders in our community, the Foundation has built a platform for chefs and asserted the power of gastronomy to drive behavior, culture, and policy change around food. To that end, the Foundation has also created signature impact-oriented initiatives that include our Women's Leadership Programs, aimed at addressing the gender imbalance in the culinary industry; advocacy training through our Chefs Boot Camp for Policy and Change; and the James Beard Foundation Leadership Awards, which shine a spotlight on successful change makers. The organization is committed to giving chefs and their colleagues a voice and the tools they need to make the world more sustainable, equitable, and delicious for everyone. For more information, please visit jamesbeard.org and follow @beardfoundation on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

SOURCE Coravin