You pour your heart into crafting exceptional wines, but visitors walk away without buying or joining your wine club.
While wine country is still a top tourism destination, most visitors aren’t looking for a technical wine education. They want to feel welcomed, understood, and guided through a memorable sensory experience—without being overwhelmed by tasting notes or winemaking jargon.
Research shows they crave connection, ambiance, and the chance to enjoy your wines in a way that feels approachable and authentic.
That’s where sensory tasting techniques come in.
By shifting focus from education to experience, your tasting room becomes more engaging, inclusive, and aligned with what today’s consumers want.
These small but powerful adjustments help visitors connect emotionally with your wines, increasing the chance they’ll join your club, buy a few bottles, or rave about their visit online.
A science-backed, experience-driven assessment designed to uncover hidden opportunities in your tasting room experiences—so more guests leave satisfied, converted into loyal fans.
Hi, I'm Isabelle Lesschaeve
the Founder and Principal of InnoVinum, a consulting and education company serving the wine industry end to end.
Traditional wine tasting rituals are intimidating and frankly do not serve your wines, when the goal is to create a memorable experience for your guests.
These rituals were designed for judging wine quality not for the tasters enjoyment. Expecting all winery visitors to be expert tasters creates deceiving interactions between visitors and staff.
I have studied tourist motivations to visit wineries and have an extensive experience leading wine tasting with consumers. My focus is on sensory education, helping them appreciate your wines through their senses and helping your staff focusing on the tasters' experience.
This is a brand-new service, and I’m offering it at a special founding rate of $497 (a $300.00 discount from the regular rate) to a small group of wineries ready to experiment and help shape the future of tasting room experiences. In exchange, I’ll ask for your honest feedback—and if you love it, a short testimonial.
After checkout, you'll receive a link to schedule the planning call and complete a short intake form
At the end of the planning call, we’ll book your 2-hour session.
Your team treats me like any other guest. I’ll assess how the tasting experience flows, how sensory language is used, and how your staff interacts with visitors (virtually or on-site).
You’ll receive a written report within 7 business days. Then we’ll meet for a 30-minute follow-up call to review it and discuss next steps.
This sensory review is about thoughtful, human-centered experiences that drive superior customer engagements.
Not at all. This Tune-Up is for any winery that wants to enhance its guest experience—even if you’re already doing well. Small, thoughtful changes can help you convert more tasters into buyers and club members.
Yes, they’ll be aware. This isn’t a “secret shopper” scenario. I approach it as a collaborative, supportive experience. I’ll observe naturally and give feedback that’s respectful, constructive, and rooted in sensory science and consumer behavior.
Yes! During the planning call, we’ll discuss which experience(s) to focus on. If time allows, I can sample more than one tier or format of tasting.
In the case of an on-site Tune_up, travel and accommodations are not included and will be charged back at cost. In the case of a virtual assessment, I will request wine samples shipped to my location.
In a virtual audit, I’ll walk through your experience via video call and digital materials. I’ll rely on your team’s walk-through and a customer perspective simulation. Having wine samples shipped to me would also help better assess the tasting conduct. Virtual assessment is highly effective for wineries outside my travel range.
This service is more diagnostic than training-focused, but the strategy call can include tips for how to coach staff using the report insights. If you'd like a dedicated staff workshop afterward, we can explore that as an add-on.
That’s totally fine! The Tune-Up is collaborative. You’re the expert in your brand, and I bring in an external perspective grounded in science. We’ll talk through any recommendations to make sure they align with your vision.
Just one or two more club sign-ups per month could easily cover the cost of the Tune-Up. Many of the suggestions are low-effort, high-impact tweaks that improve how guests connect with your wines—and stick around longer.
Let's bring a science-backed approach to your current practices and create memorable tastings for your guests.