A British retailer is looking for a "vintern" to spend three days in the Iberian Peninsula to taste wines from Spain and Portugal
British retailer Majestic is looking for an intern this summer. Or, rather, a vintern because the lucky winner will have only one task: to find out if the wine drunk on holiday tastes better than the wine drunk at home. In the name of science, of course.
The person selected for the post of vintern will spend – literally and figuratively! – three days in the Iberian Peninsula, in the Douro Valley, with the sole purpose of tasting wines from Spain and Portugal. Airfares, accommodation and wine tastings will be provided by Majestic, which will also put up £200 per day (equivalent to an annual salary of £52,000) for other expenses of vintern. Also on return from paid holiday, vintern will receive wines – identical to those drunk on holiday – at home. His task will be to evaluate the two experiences and then communicate which wines were better: those tasted on holiday, or those from home.
Moreover, not to feel lonely, the vintern can spend the time dedicated to this experiment accompanied by your favourite person. The "working" day will include a three-course lunch and wine tasting at the Quinta da Boavista vineyard, a guided tour of the vineyard by horse-drawn carriage, a visit to the winery, a tasting of premium olive oils and a wine tasting session of wines from five regions of Portugal: the Algarve, Alentejo, Lisboa, Douro and Vinho Verde.
For the retailer’s proposition to be of interest to as many people as possible, candidates for the job don’t need previous tasting experience, just "an open mind, a passport and a love of beautiful bottles".
Nominations for this post can be submitted until 19 August and the winner will be announced on 22 August. Registration is done by filling in a form on the retailer’s website.
Applicants must be over 18 years old, confirm their availability in September and reveal what their favourite wine has been on previous holidays, plus a presentation in no more than 200 words explaining their reasons for applying. Only UK residents can sign up, but this marketing model for promoting responsible wine consumption seems to have a future and we wanted to popularise it precisely because we would like to see it replicated creatively in our area.
