Wine Tasting Parties
Wine tasting parties are a great way to spend some time with friends and family. You will want to have a variety of wines as the people at the party will have different tastes.
Wine tasting parties can be an inexpensive and easy to plan party theme. You can make it simple, such as just tasting wine with a little cheese and crackers, up to an entire wine dinner with different wines for each course. Or anything in between!
You may need to keep an eye on your guests, as some may taste a little too much. You may have to insure their safety by getting them a ride home or letting them stay at your house for a while. It would probably be a good idea to plan on having some coffee as well, just in case.
The other thing to consider is that if someone has too much wine, they may not be able to taste the wine properly. You will want to have a way for them to rinse their mouths and glasses. Also some crackers to get the taste of the wine out of their mouths. This will insure that your guests get the full benefit from each kind of wine.
Make sure that you have something white for your guests to use as a background to “see” the wine. This could be a white table cloth or white napkins. Some people will hold their glasses up to a light. And make sure that you have plenty of wine glasses.
And since you may not know all of your friends wine preferences, it would be OK to ask them to bring a bottle of their own. This would also be a good opportunity for your friends to introduce a wine that you may not have tasted.
If you are providing a red wine be sure to decant it before the party. This will give it a chance to breathe before the tasting. If you are serving wine that needs to be chilled, make sure that it is at the correct temperature before the party starts.
You may also want to have paper and pencils available. Some of your guests may want to take tasting notes, or even write down the names of some favorites for later purchases.
Normally, you will start with the lighter wines and progress to the heavier wines. If you started with the heavier wines, your guests would not get the full taste of the lighter wines. You should have a plan before the tasting party starts as to the order in which you will taste the wines.
Another thing that you may consider is a guessing game. Serve some wines without showing the bottles and see if the guests can name the types.
For more information on wine tasting parties check out our ebook: Wine Tasting. It also includes a great bonus book about food and drink ideas.
