couch + cork Acquires Corporate Virtual Wine Tastings

Contact: Nancy Koziol, Owner, couch + cork, 802.440.0437 nancy@couchandcork.com

For immediate release: October 22, 2021

Local Wine Education Company Pops The Cork On New Business Deal

Southern Vermont—Locally-owned wine education company, couch + cork, announced today that it has purchased France-based brand Corporate Virtual Wine Tastings (CVWT)extending its corporate wine education arm from North America to the rest of the world. Company officials worked out the deal after collaboration during the pandemic. couch + cork owner, Nancy Koziol, expects this merger to provide employment opportunities locally in addition to increasing its customer base.

Both couch + cork and CVWT provide expert-led, educational wine tastings to corporate clients using Zoom, Microsoft Teams and other online platforms. These tastings are often multi-state and -country and require tremendous attention to detail. The acquisition will allow couch + cork to offer tastings in multiple languages thanks to the talented team at CVWT.

As France re-opens, CVWT owner Caroline Conner is ready to refocus on her tasting outfit. “I’m ready to get back to Lyon Wine Tastings and continue producing content for my YouTube channel.”

couch + cork was developed by Bennington resident, wine expert and journalist Nancy Koziol in May 2019. Koziol had created a wine tasting group while studying for her Level 2 Wine & Spirits Education Trust (WSET) and quickly realized that she had a knack for teaching about wine and loved doing it. The goal was to create an educational service that took the elitism and gatekeeping out of wine so that it was more accessible. In addition to corporate clients like Door Dash, GoDaddy and Fenwick & West, Koziol has worked with local organizations like Bennington Museum, Shires, Young Professionals, W. Collective, Park-McCullough, the Southwestern Vermont Chamber and Green Mountain Academy for Lifelong Learning to offer exceptional programming. couch + cork also regularly donates tastings to charity and non-profit auctions. Tastings are informative, experiential, and interactive whether participants are wine connoisseurs or only drink beer.

“Nancy and I have a similar approach. I had referred US-based clients to her during the pandemic and both my clients and I were thrilled with her. When I realized it was time to get back to Lyon Wine Tastings it only made sense to offer Nancy CVWT first,” Caroline said.

“Caroline’s offer came at the perfect time. couch + cork has grown but we are ready to take on more. We enjoy corporate tastings and this allows us to bring our brand of interactive, entertaining wine education to even more people,” said couch + cork owner, Nancy Koziol.

To learn more about couch + cork visit www.couchandcork.com.

About couch + cork

couch + cork is a woman-owned small business based in downtown Bennington, VT. It launched in-person tastings in May 2019, as a one-woman show owned and operated by Nancy Koziol, a local author, wine writer and journalist. In May of 2020, it pivoted to virtual tastings quickly making a name for itself. It has grown to employ two other wine experts (pre-expansion) and looks forward to hiring locally, again, in 2022.

couch + cork values supporting local, being accessible and volunteering time, services and profit to the local community. For more information, please visit http://www.couchandcork.com/.

About Lyon Wine Tastings/Wine Dine Caroline

Caroline Conner is a wine expert living the dream in Lyon, France. She promotes her local wine region through specialized in-person tastings in her converted silk-factory loft. Additionally, she provides exceptional, educational wine content (in English) on her YouTube channel. For more information, please visit http://www.lyonwinetastings.com.

To learn more about this acquisition, please contact:

Nancy Koziol, owner
113 South Street, Suite 302
Bennington, VT 05201
802.440.0437
nancy@couchandocrk.com
###