Olala Bordeaux had the honor of organizing a personalized wine tasting workshop for a group of blind and visually impaired adults. Not your typical blind tasting session, but a wine tasting session for the blind and visually impaired! We adapted our usual approach somewhat to tailor the workshop to their visual impairment. Here’s how it went. Spoiler alert: it was a real hit!
Why did we run a wine tasting session for the blind and visually impaired?
Unadev, (National Union for the Blind and Visually impaired) is a French association that has been running for more than 80 years and has a regional office in the center of Bordeaux. The volunteers who keep the organization running support visually impaired individuals or those with full sight loss so they can flourish naturally in their daily lives.
The organization has several missions, one of which is to offer monthly cultural activities for its members, which is what inspired us to offer an activity for visually impaired adults that was tailored to their interests.
How did we adapt our tasting session to their visual disability?
We met at the Olala shop/cellar in the heart of the Grands Hommes district for a one-hour Introduction to Bordeaux Wine tasting session.
The group was comprised of 7 blind and visually impaired participants, accompanied by 5 volunteers (plus one adorable guide dog!). They enjoyed a personalized learning experience where they deepened their knowledge of Bordeaux wines.
To ensure participants felt at ease during the session, we offered a range of reading materials adapted to their visual disability, such as:
- a large presentation screen
- relief maps of the vineyards
- technical sheets on the Bordeaux grape varieties written in Braille.
Our Bordeaux wine expert talked them through the tasting step by step, providing all explanations aloud, all the while keeping it both educational and fun.
The workshop followed the usual structure:
- Introduction to Bordeaux wines (appellations, grape varieties, etc.)
- Introduction to wine tasting
- Wine tasting
- Wine and food pairing
Taste, aroma, texture and hearing naturally took priority over sight when analyzing the organoleptic properties of the wines.
What did our participants think?
It was a resounding success! The participants absolutely loved the sensory experience! We’ll be keeping in touch with Unadev in case they decide to hold another session.
After such an enriching experience all-round, it’s inspired us to explore creating more accessible tours and activities for adults with disabilities by adapting our wine tasting workshops. That pretty much sum up Olala Bordeaux’s 😉spirit!
Here are some snaps to remember the afternoon together. We look forward to running another session in the future.
Find out more about our personalized-wine-tasting-workshop.
