Photo: Christin Hume
Cover Photo: Christin Hume/Unsplash
Before Covid-19 fully comes under control, face-to-face hangouts are frowned upon, hence the success of Troika Sky Dining's virtual wine workshops spearheaded by sommelier Alison Christ. What's on the table if you register?

1. Wait For Your Wine Delivery

Like Christmas come early, Troika Sky Dining will drop off a package at your provided address a day before the first lesson.

Inside, you'll find 5 foil-wrapped wine bottles—no peeking!—for the 4-day workshop (participants will conduct a side-by-side tasting of two wines on the final day).

That's not all: each wine delivery includes plastic containers (too small to serve as spitting buckets) mysteriously wrapped in aluminum foil. More on that later!

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Above 33 participants sat in on Alison Christ's blind wine tasting. (Photo: Samantha Lim)

2. Sign In To The Zoom Sessions

On the day of our trial session, we're surprised to see not 10 or 20, but 33 participants on Zoom. Largely comprised of friends and fans of Troika Sky Dining, including respected sommelier Yong Yi Ying and restaurateur Lyn Siew, our 'classmates' happily swirl their glasses of wine while awaiting further instruction.

Whether or not you're feeling sociable, Troika Sky Dining's virtual wine tasting caters to all levels of participation—you can choose to be a fly on the wall or a chatty Cathy.

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Above Lychee (Photo: Neha Deshmukh/Unsplash

3. Enjoy A Guided Sensorial Experience

We begin with a warm up exercise to awaken our olfactory senses. Christ instructs us to poke a hole in the aforementioned mystery containers and to guess its contents based on smell alone. These same scents—coffee, lychee, cinnamon, white pepper, vanilla, tobacco—might reveal themselves in today's chosen wine, she winks.

A thoroughly enjoyable experience for both the novice and seasoned wine enthusiast, each master class walks you through the 5 S's of wine tasting (see, swirl, sniff, sip, savour) at a comfortable pace. Expect a smattering of wine jargon like 'rim variation' and 'viscosity', but don't hesitate to ask questions—the audience is kind.

4. Greet A Surprise Guest

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Above Winemaker Oliver Haag (Photo: Fritz Haag)

After finally deducing that the wine is a German Riesling, we are permitted to 'unrobe' the vintage, which turns out to be a Fritz Haag Riesling Trocken, 2018.

Full of surprises, Christ announces that Oliver Haag, owner of Weingut Fritz Haag, had, in fact, been 'sitting in' with us the entire time.

"Guttenmorgen!" says the German winemaker, who proceeds to answer our questions: about his inherited winery, the Middle of Mosel, wine characteristics typical of Northern Germany, and recommended food pairings.

5. Relish The Remaining Wine

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Above Fritz Haag Riesling Trocken (Photo: Decántalo)

Marked by a racy quality, the bone-dry Riesling is unputdownable and underscores Christ's fantastic taste in wine.

Troika Sky Dining's wines alone provide good reason to subscribe for their masterclasses.

Looking at the workshop as a whole, not only is it well thought out, but also worth the price.

And while we miss clinking glasses with other wine enthusiasts, there is no denying the convenience of virtual hangouts—parking and traffic jam woes feel like a thing of the past!

Price

RM700 nett inclusive of 5 wines

Register For Next Session

+6018-236 3952

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