If you asked 100 people on the street the nuances of wines, most would have no idea, some might have a basic understanding and the odd few will be able to talk to you on the subject. The Wine List is addressing this and in an affordable way.
“For a decade, I drank wine without really knowing what I was drinking. I always loved it, but so much of it was hit and miss,” says Josh Lachkovic, founder of a wine startup called the Wine List based in London.
“I remember walking into a wine bar once in my early 20s and feeling embarrassed choosing wine based on price. Or if I wanted to spend more, I didn’t know what to ask for.”
The embarrassment in buying wine is commonly felt with just 0.1% of its drinkers holding onto the knowledge. “If you want to learn about wine today, you can revise a textbook and study a £500 course, or buy a coffee table book that just sits there. The former is out of reach for most people, and the latter doesn’t really help.”
Josh wanted to offer something refreshing for the modern wine drinker. “People tell me all the time ‘I don’t know much about wine but –’ before they talk about their love for it”, says Lachkovic. “I started The Wine List in an attempt to break down barriers and give people the confidence to understand and enjoy wine.”
How much does it cost to join the Wine List?
The Wine List subscription is £39 a month. Each month, you receive Wine Roots. This is the startup’s course that teaches around the subjects of how to taste; wine production; climate & environment; and wine styles.
Along with Wine Roots, each customer receives two bottles of wine to test their new skills on. These come with guided tasting cards designed to help you find aromas and characteristics such as colour, tannins and acidity.
Lachkovic is keen to stress the subjectivity of wine and hopes that people will also see The Wine List as a discovery platform. He chooses lesser-known grapes, regions and producers, and encourages people to try things they usually wouldn’t – therefore refining their own personal preferences, likes and dislikes.
With restrictions easing, the Wine List plan in-person events to join learners in the community. As well as this, they are growing their education platform introducing video lessons and quizzes to aid learning.
All of this built on a free weekly newsletter offering bitesize lessons & supermarket recommendations read by over 5,000 people per week.
For more information and to subscribe to the service, visit www.thewinelist.net.
Read more articles on wines and spirits in our dedicated section here.