Sips with a somm

Looking for a fabulous group wine tasting experience?
Gather in person or virtually with your friends and family and of course wine!

‘Sips with a Somm’ by Sommelier Melissa Ward, wine expert and former co-owner/GM of Asheville’s Rustic Grape Wine Bar, is a popular, customizable wine tasting in person* or via ZOOM! Rustic Grape Wine Bar may be closed, but Melissa is excited to offer her fun, interactive, and educational wine tastings to your group!

Sips with a Somm Tastings are a fun way to sip wine and spend time with friends, co-workers or family throughout the year. Celebrate friendships or special occasions like birthdays, bachelorette parties, or anniversaries, gather for work pow-wows/team-building or coordinate a fun date night in. Residing or visiting the Asheville area, gather your peeps for a private group tasting, or connect from different places for a fun virtual wine tasting/gathering night!

For more details on packages, pricing and available dates, fill out our contact form below or email Melissa at sipswithasomm@gmail.com so she can help customize your wine experience. Mon-Wed bookings receive 10% discount

wine tastings

The perfect virtual or in person group activity to gather with friends, share laughs, and of course, drink some wine!

What to Know

If you’re interested in booking a Rustic Grape Wine Tasting, please fill out our contact form below. Melissa will send you a brief questionnaire to help customize your session. All tastings are crafted to meet your unique needs and goals — they typically last one and a half hours and can include a food pairing from our local vendors.

Tastings Offered*

Swirl, Sniff, Sip. Wine 101

New or casual wine drinker? Intimidated by wine snobbery or wine labels?  Wanna learn your wine personality? This casual and fun tasting helps you dive in to easy tasting techniques, wine making basics, popular regions, buying hints, and more. 

Wine & Cheese Please

“I never met a cheese I didn’t like.” Learn what wines pair with fresh, gooey, nutty, or aged cheeses.  Yum!

Wine & Food Pairings

Easy and great suggestions for pairing wine and food for restaurant or at-home noshing. 

Guess What? Blind Tasting Tips

Discover fun tricks to guess what's in your glass using all your senses. This tasting is a fun way to become more familiar with different varietals, regions and impress friends!

Velvety Reds

Velvety, smooth, chewy, fruity, smoky…. a broad look and taste of fuller bodied reds from around the globe. Substitute a light and medium red to turn into a red wine lovers tasting

Flirty Whites

You like white wine no matter the season or cuisine. Learn about different styles and expand your likes.

Yay Rosé

Cheers to the year-round fruity pink sip! Sip and discover rosé styles and regions.

Sparkling Sips

Add effervescence to wine and it turns into sparkling fun and dazzle. Explore affordable everyday styles like Prosecco and Cava. Ask about a splurge-worthy Champagne option for a special occasion!

Old World vs. New World

Does fruit leap out of your wine glass or is it more subtle? Why are some wines “fruit bombs” and some racy and fresh? Learn how to simplify and expand your likes based on a wine’s region, climate and wine making style.

*If you have a special request not listed, please ask. It may be possible to blend components from different tastings into one.  Note: A single session or group must all do the same tasting. A substitution can be recommended for 1-2 sweeter wines.

Testimonials

Contact

Get started booking your Rustic Grape Wine Tasting today.

Local Vineyards-Crest of the Blue Ridge AVA

Though Rustic Grape Wine Bar is closed, Melissa has kept her passion for wine alive by working or volunteering at local family-run vineyards. Wineries that tell a great story — just like the wines she curated for the bar. Stories of great wines, place, family, heart, and soul. Learning the growing, making and production side of wine has been a nice complement to Melissa’s education, years of tasting and operating various endeavors in the food and beverage business.

Melissa is excited to now offer her unique, fun and successful wine tastings from her wine bar to consumers both locally in person and virtually. Her unpretentious and playful approach to sipping and learning about wine is the foundation of her tastings and classes. The newbie wine drinker or someone looking to have a better, more personalized understanding of wine are her favorite clients. Many of her clients say she delivers the best and most fun wine tasting they have ever had!

Melissa Ward, a native Washingtonian, fell in love with what is now home in Asheville for its spectacular mountains, amazing food scene and southern hospitality. She applied her B.S. in Psychology and natural people skills to two decades of successful customer service endeavors in both elder care and hospitality. Melissa’s passion for food and wine began after culinary school, in the small Russian River Valley town of Guerneville, where she opened a charming farm to table vegetarian restaurant with CIA Chef Alexandra Bury.  As a chef and dining manager, Melissa provided memorable dining experiences and helped create a destination restaurant,  popular cooking school and catering company for small wedding venues in Sonoma. Her passion for wine bloomed after meeting with local heart and soul winemakers and vineyard families to learn and create dynamic wine lists and host fun wine paring events.

Today, she continues to use her past experiences with catering and event planning as well as vast wine knowledge, creativity and passion from her former local favorite downtown AVL spot Rustic Grape Wine Bar, to treat travelers and local guests to fun wine tasting experiences and wine themed events.