Though we all enjoy traveling to the wine regions of the world, there are times that physical travel is not possible. Some of this may be due to work or health conflicts, but increasingly there are other issues that cause wine regions to close temporarily. Examples include the COVID pandemic, earthquakes in New Zealand, Chile and Napa; terrorist attacks in France, Spain and Germany, and wildfires and mudslides in California. Given these changing conditions, some wineries have started offering innovative virtual wine tours.
360 Virtual Vineyard Tour (Modified Photo Credit: Pxfuel.com)
Three Types of Virtual Wine Tours
With the new virtual wine tours, tourists can tour a winery or wine region virtually by using their computer, tablet or smart phone. This can be accomplished with online videos, 360 photo tours, or 360 videos with VR glasses, and are designed to make the visitor feel as if they are really walking through the winery grounds. Currently there are three types of virtual wine tours offered by some wineries.
Engaging Online Videos showcase the winery and allow visitors to see the entrance to the winery, step into the tasting room, walk through the vineyards, see the cellars, wander the gardens, and see the wines. These can be fun and whimsical, or classy and elegant. Here are two good examples:
360 Photo Tours are simply photos of the estate filmed in a 360 format and then edited so that visitors can click on a link to take them into another room, such as the cellar, the wine library, the vineyard, gardens, etc. It is a technique that is often used by home sales websites, and is less expensive to produce than professional videos. Here is a good example :
- Hammersky Vineyards in Paso Robles, California (double click on screen)
360 Video Tours are filmed with a special 360 video camera and professionally edited. Virtual wine tourists are invited to don a pair of VR Glasses, which can be purchased inexpensively online, such as the Google Cardboard headset, so they can experience the 360 video as if they were actually there. Here are two examples:
- Fast-paced 360 ride through the Champagne region
- Visiting 14 Hand Winery in Washington State
NOTE: A longer version of this article was originally published at by Wine Industry Advisor at: https://wineindustryadvisor.com/2020/05/28/the-future-of-virtual-wine-tourism