Wine tasting

At IMPAKT we like wine. To us, the beauty of wine is that even without expertise you can taste and form an opinion. Drinking wine is a social activity that engages your senses– it has the potential to bridge both cultural and geographic divides. We took this as our starting point for the hybrid wine tasting event format.

We have now organised two editions of the IHWT. The two variations were quite different from one another, but follow from an iterative design process: we took what we learned from the 1st edition into the 2nd edition. The design of each is detailed below.

International Hybrid Wine Tasting 1.0

On the surface, the IHWT is structured like an ordinary wine tasting experience: the 3 hour event is divided into five rounds, one wine to try in each round. However, using hybrid techniques we were able to

The first edition of the International Hybrid Wine Tasting was conceptualised as a speed-dating, wine-tasting, garden party. The event was hosted on Zoom and divided into five rounds, each round we would try a new wine. The wines were selected by five partner institutions (Antre Peaux, France; Werkleitz, Germany; Onassis Stegi, Greece; Kontejner, Croatia; Laboral, Spain).

In the garden of the historic Oud Amelisseweerd estate just outside of Utrecht we set up five tables each with their own extensive video-calling materials. Identical tables were set up around Europe by our partner institutions. In total, there were ten tables that joined a collective Zoom call (5 in Utrecht, 5 over Europe). At the beginning of each round, the wine would be introduced by the institution that chose it in a collective setting. Then, each table in Utrecht was paired with one of the partner tables– these pairings would switch each round.

During these rounds of break-out rooms, guests were invited to do two things. Firstly, they were invited to try the wine. But they were also given a game to play across the digital divide with the table they were paired with. These games were themed around one of the five senses.

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