Did you ever want to know the story behind the wines you drink?

Central Florida-basedinedos (winedos.com) is a new online wine project founded by father and son duo Enrique and Ivan del Barco.

Enrique and Ivan personally travel  to where the best wines with history are, there, they taste the wines, learn their history, and spend a few days meeting the winemakers.

They also produce detailed informative video documentaries about the individual wines, their producers, and the denominations of origin where the wines were made so that wine lovers can learn and enjoy their wines in a deeper sense.

This month on Tuesday August 22nd, the Winedos team are hosting a special event – Wine Tasting, Wine Book, Jazz  Quartet, and Organic Pizza in Winter Park! Experience the Rioja/Spain-Casablanca/Chile Connection. The event is 6 – 8pm at the Winter Park Collective – 959 West Fairbanks Avenue Winter Park, FL 32789 .

Estela Lecea (from Bodegas Lecea – San Asensio, Rioja Alta, Spain ) presents her winemaking experience during a 1-year trip to the Casablanca Valley in Chile where she collaborated with Kingston Family Vineyards to exchange winemaking information with her historical winery in Rioja.

Organic pizza will be served and a jazz quartet will entertain the participants. Sparkling wine  selected from the Winedos portfolio will be served at 6pm.

Tickets are $50 and the event link is in here!

Stay tuned for more events coming up from WineDos!
For more information visit winedos.com

Tasty Chomps Interview with Ivan Del Barco, Founder of WineDOS

Tasty Chomps: For those who have never heard of WineDOSbefore, how would you describe to them so they can understand what you are all about?

Ivan Del Barco, WineDos: We are an online retail store of wine that enhances the customers connection to the wines they drink from our website. We visit wineries around the world, and develop a video documentary about the winery, region, and each individual wine. We post these documentaries on our website www.winedos.com with the option of purchasing each wine. We do this for two main reasons: 1. So the customer is able to know everything about the wine before he/she purchases it. 2. So the customer can experience drinking the wine as if he/she is in the winery. The explanation of how the wine is made, the history behind it, and the history behind the region, is all from the producers’ word of mouth and explained in our videos.

Q: Tell us about your background and memories around food and wine growing up?

A: Ivan- When I was young, I was surrounded by wine every day. My grandfather and my dad both had a passion for wine. With every meal, my dad still has a bottle of wine to accompany his food. Because of this, I started trying wines at an early age (as is the norm in Spain). My dad always explains where each bottle comes from, and how it tastes. This sparked my initial interest in winemaking and wines in general.

Q: Can you tell us about the inspiration behind starting Winedos and what led you to create an online wine delivery business that focuses on sharing the history and stories behind the wines?

A: Ivan- Every wine has a story behind it. You can’t hear about this story unless you are visiting the winery yourself. My dad would always complain about the label on each wine not having enough information about it. He wanted to know more about what he was drinking. So I asked him to try and find more information about his wines online. When he could not find sufficient information, it sparked the idea to start our business and take care of it ourselves.

Q: Could you walk us through the process of curating and sharing the stories behind the wines you deliver? How do you research and uncover the fascinating histories and anecdotes associated with each bottle?

A: When we visit a new wine production area we are always in search of representative, authentic and traditional wineries in the region. We look for specific wineries that have a historical background in order to have worthy stories that will impress the viewer. When we visit these wineries, we ask the producer if he/she has any specific wines that they are most proud of. With the selection they give us, we start filming videos and interviews about those wines. These wines can be meaningful for several reason, such as the grapes coming from centenary old vines, or because the wines are made using traditional old methods. My favorite reason is because the wine has an original story of how it was made or how the vineyard came to be. Once we have our stories, we include them in the documentaries and post them for the whole world to see. Out of those wines, the ones that we consider of the highest quality are incorporated in our online store. We have a very strict selection process to only offer high quality wines to our customers.

Q: In what ways do you believe that sharing the history and story behind a wine enhances the overall drinking experience for customers? What kind of feedback have you received from customers who appreciate this aspect of your business?

A: Knowing the history behind a wine that you drink changes the entire wine drinking experience. Imagine you are drinking a red wine that you really like. You like the flavors and aromas that are in your glass and you are content with it because you know it is a good wine. Now imagine you’re drinking the same wine, while also knowing that it comes from a vineyard that was run by many generations of the same family and the producers today still make it the way their great grandparents made it. That, for example, the vines are worked with a horse to get dust on top of the leaves and prevent bugs from damaging it. Or that they step on the grapes in a big lagar to get the juices out, and they rest the wine in a subterranean cellar that their ancestors built using a pickaxe. This changes your perspective of the wine, right? This is what we strive for in each wine at Winedos. Our customers have given us amazing feedback regarding this new experience of drinking wine, some have even told us they will not buy a bottle unless they know the story behind it.

Q: Are there any particular regions or wine styles that you find particularly intriguing in terms of their histories and stories? Could you share an example of a wine that carries a compelling narrative?

A: There is one wine that comes to mind. “Corazón de Lago” from Bodegas Lecea in Rioja. This is a wine that is made by pressing grapes by foot using a “lagar” (or lago). During crushing, people from all around Spain come and visit the winery to step on the grapes as they used to do in the old days. The first, more clear juice out of the grapes is discarded. The second once they start stomping the grapes is the best and call corazon (heart), which is the one they use for the wine. After that the still press the remaining grapes even more with a mechanical wooded press, but that liquid goes to lower quality wines. Corazon de Lago wine is made using these traditional old methods and has become famous in Spain for it. It turns out to be a spectacular wine.

Q: What is your advice to people who want to learn about what type of wine pairs best with food generally?

A: This is important to know when drinking a wine. In our videos, we always ask the producer which foods they would pair the wine with, so the consumer knows what food to eat with the wine. Generally, I would advise people to pair wines with food that will not change the taste of the wine. Meaning, highly acidic wines should be paired with acidic foods. Low acidic wines should be paired with low acidic foods. Although, if people want to go more in depth about pairing, they should watch the wine videos on our website in which it is explained more thoroughly.

Q: Do you have any upcoming virtual tastings or educational events, to further engage with your customers? Tell us about it!

A: For this question, I will give you a response at the end of the week as we are currently planning events for August and September.

Q: How do you see Winedos contributing to the overall wine industry and the appreciation of wine history? What impact do you hope to make through your business in terms of raising awareness and fostering a deeper connection between consumers and the wines they enjoy?

A: Personally, I see Winedos changing the wine industry completely. I believe it will become the norm to know everything about your wine before purchasing it. Whether this is through video documentary or other forms of knowledge. Appreciating the history behind the wine lets the consumer appreciate the wine they drink on another level. Once a customer is connected with their wine through its story, they will feel like something is missing without it. At least, this is what happens to me.