Whatever country you order that bottle from, there are few substances as magical as wine. Just think about it. No two vineyards or vintages are ever the same. That glass of wine you are sipping is a tangible expression of a parcel of land far, far away from the four walls of your home. Unless you happen to be a winemaker of course, in which case you’ll be needing to crack open a bottle from somewhere further than the front door.

Take a bottle of Vermentino and smell the salty air that washed over the vines. Prefer a trip down the Danube? That bottle of German Riesling comes all the way from the sunny hills along the flowing river. To help round out your holiday via your wine glass, Cassandra Charlick has pulled together some of the best global wine experiences online.

We’ve not earned the term ‘the lucky country’ for nothing. When it comes to online winery experiences, Aussie wineries are the superstars of the wine world. The best bit? Postage makes light work of sourcing whatever your heart desires.

Starting out west, Singlefile Wines in Denmark, Western Australia are launching their ’socialise and indulge’ packs for the general public due to the overwhelming success for their wine club members. Friends can order the packs of wine and chocolate and then book a Zoom wine tasting session together with the winery and the chocolate maker.

A little further north in Margaret River, Cullen Wines are opening up free virtual tastings via social media with their winemaker and owner, Vanya Cullen. How often would you get the chance for a one on one session with the Halliday winemaker of the year? Catch the latest updates and upcoming live sessions over on their Instagram account.

Heading over to South Australia next, Kalleske in the Barossa Valley is popping tasting packs in the post and pairing with an online tasting video run down for each wine pack, while Unico Zelo in the Adelaide Hills has a daily happy hour and a nifty Corona Care package to order online. Victoria’s Yarra Valley is hosting different winemaker chats and cellar door tours every Thursday with full details on their Instagram account.

Finally, if you are lucky enough to live in Tasmania within reach of Josef Chromy, you can order a gourmet reheat meal to be delivered alongside your wine. There’s no risk of messing up the process from package to plate, as each dish has a guided prep video from the chef on their website. What more could you need for the ultimate night in?

It’s a little bit harder to get some US wines in Australia, so while there are plenty of delicious options to order and experience online if you live in the States, we’ve tried to include those you can purchase here in Australia. Some online experiences are just too good to miss though, so simply sub in another wine and enjoy the digital wine journey. Of course, you can always take the easy option and crack a bottle of Pinot in front of a classic film like Sideways or the more recent Wine Country.

St Supery in Napa Valley is a luxe winery who champions sustainability and estate-grown wines. It’s a little hard to get wines here in Oz but well worth jumping online for a 360 degree tour of the winery. With an ongoing series of online virtual wine tastings via zoom and FB live, it’s a bit of fun. You’ll walk through the vines with the winemaker, hit up the kitchen with their chef, and for an hour or so feel like you’ve been whisked off to California’s wine country.

A brand that might be familiar from the shelves of your local wine store, Kendall Jackson wines are pretty easy to get in Australia. Crack a bottle and head over to Sonoma for a virtual tour of the estate and some recipes to pair with the wines. You can even take a digital stroll through their sensory garden. Over on their Instagram account, they’ve got regular virtual wine tastings with their wine master, Randy Ullom to look forward to each week.

Another drop you can get your hands on here in Australia is from Seghesio Family Vineyards. Once you have your chosen bottle, book a reservation and one of their knowledgeable hospitality team members will meet you for a personal Zoom tasting experience. Virtual wine events are also up online with the winemaker, with previous sessions available to watch on their website and future sessions announced via their mailing list.

Pop the cork! It’s time for a trip to Epernay, the epi-centre of Champagne. Okay, a stroll down the Avenue de Champagne is not going to be on the agenda for some time; however there are plenty of ways to take a trip via champagne flute at home.

The starting point for your digi-journey is over at the encyclopedic online home of The Union des Maisons de Champagne. From here you can learn all about the history of Champagne, the art of tasting and serving Champagne and why exactly your bottle of Champagne must be produced in Champagne. Launch off from the website to explore some of the individual Champagne Houses, most of the biggest ones have thorough online opportunities to learn further about their wine and enjoy digital tours of the caves and vineyards. Need some help with the actual tasting side of things? Instagram’s @champagensquadoffical hosts regular tasting sessions focusing on the bubbly stuff with special industry guests. And when life all gets a bit much simply pop on some Ab Fab followed by Absolutely Champers: a tour through Champagne from the comic duo.

Okay, so Lyon Wine Tastings isn’t actually a winery, it’s a wine tasting school set up by a British-American sommelier in the middle of France’s culinary capital of Lyon. While you’ll not be able to enjoy the usual wines sipped and swirled in her classes (those small, independent producers don’t ship around the world very easily), you can easily pick up a bottle of any Beaujolais or Cote de Rhône from down the road and join into one of their free virtual happy hour tastings. Unlike a happy hour down at the local pub where it’s likely a chance to relax after a hard week at work, here you’ll be discussing the technique of tasting wine. Held every Friday and Saturday at 6pm GMT, jump in, and reserve your spot in advance to make sure you’ve got a seat at the table. Yep, it might be a little bit of a weird time difference to your usual happy hour, but tasting wine in France is a holiday from the sofa.

If you’ve never heard of the Bourgogne region, maybe the word Burgundy sounds a bit more familiar. The region is famous for producing some of the world’s best Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, so start your journey by heading over to the official website for Vins De Bourgogne Wines. It’s easy to lose an entire evening scrolling through the resources here, including an entirely FREE wine education course for those that facing upskilling in iso. Food and wine pairing, tasting tips, and plenty of inspiration for your trip in person once travel is the norm again. Head over to their Instagram account for real time updates on the 2020 vintage and a hefty dose of content in both English and French. Click on the IGTV videos and you’ll feel like you’ve been whisked away with some stunning visuals, even if you haven’t a clue what they are saying in the Francophile voice-over.