Vinoa Wine Tasting Subscription Service - review

I recently got this....  It is a Vinoa Wine Tasting Box.

It popped up on my Facebook news feed and I thought it sounded quite interesting, so off I popped to have a look.

I found a 'Welcome Box' where you just pay the postage at £2.99, so I went ahead and ordered one. 

You do have to sign up to have them delivered monthly, but you can cancel before the first month.

I was excited to find this neat little box pop through my letterbox.  With proper (tiny) glass bottles neatly packed inside.  And it does go through a regular letterbox, so no trailing down to the post depot to collect your parcel if you miss the post-person.

The bottles hold 50ml each - so the total volume is just under a large glass.  For £10.00  (the regular price) I did think it was expensive..... for a glass of wine...... which was why I was 'planning' to cancel it after the first box.

So, you get a little card where you place your 4 glasses.

And into each glass your little dribble of wine does go.

Then you log onto the Vinoa website and follow the interactive guide.

Now, a little tip.  BEFORE you open the bottles and pour it all out, make sure you are set up on the website and logged in.  It took me AGES to request a new password, sort it all out, set up a profile etc..  and all the time I could smell the wine, sitting there, waiting to be drank.

And we are ready to taste...  

The interactive guide takes you through some easy steps.  The first one it tells you what the wine should look like, colour, clarity etc...

Then you go on to smell.  You have to pick the icons on the screen that you think you can smell - such as tobacco, spices and fruits.   It will then tell you if you are right or wrong, and if you are wrong what the correct ones were.

Next is taste - no gulping it down on this bit.  The guide shows you how to test for tannins and how to pick up on the flavours.

At the end of each separate glass, it tells you how much the wine sells for (you can buy it from their website if you like it)  The are well priced, these particular ones from about £6.00 through to £21.00.  Of course, my favourite was the darkest, deepest, most expensive Red  ;)

Gulp!  Gone!

As I mentioned before, I was going to go and cancel this subscription once I had tried the first box, but I enjoyed the whole process so much that I didn't, I am going to stay with it as it was loads of fun learning about the tastes and the smells. I am going to treat it as educational   ;)  And those little glass bottles are so darn cute!

My next box is due very soon.  Can't wait  ;)

Middle Aged.

"Middle Aged" - that's me apparently.  And I have to say, it's been a middle aged kind of a day.

When I got to work to start my shift at 12 noon, I read the morning briefing  (this is about targets, job lists, feedback etc...). I read that a customer had sent in a 'Passion Builder', which is where a customer gives feedback about their Hobbycraft experience.  It  was a good report and mentioned a "Dark haired, chatty, middle aged lady".  As I am the only one who could be in that age category with dark hair, I guess it was me :)

Nice feedback - thumbs up / Middle aged - thumbs down.


Let me show you another Outreach project from Lauren - Pin Cushions.  So cute!  I wanna make some.

Adding to the middle-agedness, I went to see "Quartet" with Shona tonight.  Mainly because my parents raved about it, my Mother telling me how absolutely hilarious it was when Billy Connelly peed in a bush.

Hmmmmm.  It was an OK film, I would liken it to Italian Merlot - you wouldn't necessarily choose to drink it, but if it was there.......  The funniest bits were laughing at the collective gasp of the audience when the words "Twat" and "F**k" were used.  And not to mention the embarrassment of Shona who was clearly the youngest person there by about 20 years  :)

Speaking of Italian Merlot, the cinema had received their wine delivery. Now served in cute plastic wine glasses.  Horrid wine - the sulphites give me a headache - but wine nonetheless. (Mental note not to have it ever again)

Well, that's me off work now until Monday - whooooo days off.  Lots of plans to do crafts, to do some stuff in 'The Shed', and a big plan to wallpaper the bathroom (must, must, must do it).

Before I go, I have finished the back of the Crochet vest.

Silloth & The Hobbit.

Sunday, day of rest.

Rest, to us, is not sitting on the sofa watching TV, that bores the life out of me. No.... 'rest' is blowing away the cobwebs, spending quality time with loved ones, that kind of thing.

We like to walk the "Wainwrights" which is a range of Lakeland fells walked by Alfred Wainwright. So far we have walked 16 out of 214, so we have quite a few to complete. We would have normally planned a Wainwright, but I have had a bit of a cold and my lung capacity is not as healthy as it should be at the moment.

So we decided to have a nice walk along the sea front at Silloth.

Silloth is our "sea-side",only 23 miles from Carlisle, it's where you took the kids for a picnic when they were young, car packed up with buckets, spades, sandwiches and old tatty towels.  At this time of year the one amusement arcade is closed down, and the only people around are dog walkers.

Nowadays, when we visit, it's just us, a Springer Spaniel and a pocket full of poop bags.  But a nice walk all the same.

I love the sea. I love the sea when it's sparkling and blue, I also love it when it's grey and dismal.  Today it was mucky brown and dull, but it's still enchanting.

We had a lovely 50 minute brisk walk which made our eyes water, our noses run and our ears flap (well, Dotty Dog's ears flapped).

This afternoon we popped along to the local cinema to watch 'The Hobbit', what a fantastic film, superb effects and I was really frustrated to find it was 'Part 1' and that 'Part 2' would not be along until July  :(

After the cinema we were walking back to where we had parked the car, having to pass an Indian restaurant named Rafiks.

Just before Christmas Shona (my daughter), Lezley (my friend) and I had been invited to this restaurants 1st Birthday Party (we are regular attendees of their 'Bollywood Night' events - a meal and Indian film) and I had made them a birthday cake, which I took in my cake dome.  I needed to pick up the dome as I have made a few cakes since and had nothing to transport them in.  Oh.... this is a photograph from our "Carlisle Living" magazine from the night (Lezley refused to have hers taken, wish I had!!)

Anyway, I digress, as we were passing the restaurant on the way to the car, we thought we should pop in and pick up the cake dome, only we ended up staying for a meal   :)  Tut Tut.  We had all the stuff at home for a stir-fry too !!

I feel really full and rotund now, and tired.  Need to sleep.  Got a 7 hour shift at work tomorrow.

Let me show you how far the crocheting has come along since last night.....

Getting there.