Announcing: The Wine Salon Sessions

Victoria Daskal
5 hours ago
3 min read

Shaping a Book in Real Time

For over a decade, I’ve been bringing people together through wine.

While hosting tastings, masterclasses, tours, trips and courses, my work has always gone beyond what’s in the glass — exploring how wine connects to people, place and culture.

That creative instinct deepened when I launched Mummy Wine Club, curating monthly wine selections built around themes such as:

English wines

Female winemakers

Volcanic landscapes

Island wines

Picasso’s artistic trail

The goal was never to simplify wine or reduce it to cheat sheets.

Instead, I wanted to reveal its depth.

Every bottle holds a wider story — of geography, politics, history, art and human experience.

And I found that when wines were explored through these lenses, people engaged with them more meaningfully.

A New Chapter

When Mummy Wine Club closed in 2023, I shifted focus.

Since then, my work has expanded into:

• Writing for Decanter and the Financial Times

• Teaching across WSET levels 1 through Diploma

• Leading educational work at The Old Vine Conference and serving as Regional Ambassador for France

• Hosting gastronomy and wine tours through Provence and the Loire with Martin Randall Travel

It’s a rich and varied world — full of fascinating people and places.

But the desire to gather people around wine, and to explore its deeper stories has never left me.

The Book

The years of dreaming up and executing creative tastings and wine experiences are being poured into a book.

I’m currently 20,000 words in.

The concept centres on themed wine experiences, each exploring wine through culture, history, art or landscape.

Each chapter will combine:

• Context

• Why the theme matters

• Wines that represent it

• Producers to explore

• Practical guidance for recreating it at your home

The aim is not just to inspire, but to offer something usable, a way for readers to create meaningful wine experiences themselves.

Bringing It to Life

As part of the writing process, I’m launching a Wine Salon series this spring.

These sessions are explorations on themes, a chance to refine the ideas that will shape the book.

Across five evenings, we’ll examine wine through themes such as: Art, History, Culture, Literature, and People.

Reclaiming Wine as a Cultural Experience

There is a time and a place for sudying wine in sterile environments, but this isn't it.

Blind tasting can be very useful for developing your palate, but removing wine from context can strip away its meaning.

In my work through this series wine is explored through a wider lens.

The atmosphere matters.

The conversation matters.

The people around the table matter.

The cultural framing is just as important as what is in the glass.

The Wine Salon Series

The sessions will be hosted at Linden House in West London.

Dates:

26 March – Wine & Women

28 April – Wine & Literature

28 May – Wine & Art

25 June – Wine & Landscape

9 July – Wine & History

7 to 9pm

Each session explores a distinct theme through six wines.

Guests who attend all five become part of the book’s creative journey.

Full series participants will be acknowledged in the book.

An Invitation

If you are curious about wine beyond scores, price and labels and would like to experience it through culture, history and story, I would love you to join.