How to Host a Wine Tasting Party

Having a wine tasting party is a lot of fun. Although, this might seem to be for only the sophisticated crowd, anyone can learn about wine and hold a wine tasting. This is a great way to get together and experiment with new varietals. You can use any method of a wine tasting when you have a party.

The first thing you need to do is determine the type of wine tasting you want to have with your friends. The best 'first' wine tasting method is the Big 8 because this gives everyone a good idea the differences of varietals right up front. You can choose from the horizontal, vertical, pairings with cheese or chocolate, or other methods. It is up to you as it is your wine tasting party.

You will next need to determine who you are going to invite to the party. Be sure there is enough room for all of the guests you want to invite before you send out any invitations. You want enough chairs for people to sit comfortably. You also don't want to have too many people as it could be a bad situation if people feel rushed.

When you think about the amount of people you have at your wine tasting party will help you know how much wine you need to buy. Be sure to have enough so all of the guests are able to taste the same wines.

Thinking about the 'who' in who you are going to invite is important also. You might not want to invite friends who think they are experts on wine or they might get a little annoying. They also might take over the entire learning process of the different wines. This is supposed to be fun so be sure to invite fun people and people who are open minded.

You should design a card for each wine being tasted. This will be filled out by each guest as they taste each wine. They will be able to record the aroma they smell from each wine, the flavor, what it tastes like with a specific cheese, etc. You can also have them score the different wines on the back of each card also.

The best way to do a wine tasting with your friends is by holding a blind wine tasting party. You will need black or dark colored glasses so the guests cannot see the colors of the different wines. This way their perceptions will be more honest and accurate.

You also do not ever want to tell your guests what the prices of a specific wine was because they will immediately pass judgment on whether or not it is a good wine. Some people immediately assume wine is no good if it is less than $100. Never tell the price to your guests, especially if you have many different wines varying greatly in price. It is okay to tell prices after the wine tasting is over.

It is important not to have labels on the bottles or anywhere they can be found. If you leave a label on the counter then you may have a cheating guest. Allow the guests to incorporate their senses properly without any help or hints.

You don't have to go all out when you decorate for a wine tasting party. It is important to have a white table cloth so the wine color can be properly assessed. Many people like to decorate with candles, paintings, and flowers. It is entirely up to you how you want to decorate at your party.

Be sure you have plenty of light at your wine tasting party. This is important or you will have difficulty with proper assessments of the color of the wine. You might serve a very cloudy wine but if the room is dim and candle light is shining it may look brilliant.

When you serve wines at a wine tasting party be sure that they are served from dry to sweet. Start with the light white wines first and work your way slowly to the dark and heavy red wines. You should also start with younger wines to the older wines. If you are doing a vertical test based on years then you will be sure to start with the newest wines first.

When you pour wine at a wine tasting be sure you pour enough in the glass to taste the wine and not too much. Two ounces is usually a perfect amount to pour for your guests to get the right amount for a proper tasting of the wine.

Be sure to provide snacks like unflavored, unsalted crackers and bread to your guests. You don't want your guests to be hungry. This will also cleanse their palate so they are ready for the next wine to try on your list.

The most important thing to consider at a wine tasting party is driving. If your wine tasting party consists of people drinking the wine and not just tasting then they will need to find a ride home. Be sure rides have been arranged so all of your guests are safe when the party is over.

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Six Fun Wine Tasting Party Themes

So you want to host a wine tasting? Make it fun! Wine tasting doesn't have to be a stuffy affair. After all, wine is first and foremost about pleasure. So even if you are trying to organize an education tasting, you should keep it enjoyable. One of the best ways to keep your guests interested and focused on the wine while having a great time is to plan a fun wine tasting theme. A cohesive theme helps keep the tasting focused and helps to get guests involved, drawing them out to comment on and discuss the wines. After all, the discussion is what is really the most fun and educational, not just tasting the wines. Otherwise you could just have wine tastings all alone at home!

Some of the themes listed below are not mutually exclusive. Mix it up, make it interesting in any way that seems entertaining to you and your guests. You can even throw in some wine tasting party games to really turn up the excitement.

Blind Wine Tastings:

A blind wine tasting is a fun way to get everyone involved and keep your guests guessing. In a blind tasting, the tasters are blinded to the wines. Generally, the bottles are covered with a brown bag to hide their identity and then numbered with a marker. That way your guests are not biased based on the label, producer, price or anything else. You can share your unbiased thoughts and impressions about the wines. You can have random wines or they can all have some theme, such as a vertical or horizontal tasting (see below). It can even be fun to incorporate a game such as scoring each wine to see which wine gets the most votes. Or you can award prizes for the person who guesses the the most wines correctly (vintage, producer, region, grape varieties, etc.). At the end you reveal the wine and can discuss further once you know what the wines were. It is a good idea to reveal the wines while everyone still has a bit of each wine left to taste so they can go back and reassess their impressions after finding out what they were drinking.

Vertical Wine Tasting:

A vertical tasting is an assortment of the same wine, from the same producer and vineyard, across several vintages. It is a great way to begin to understand both the style and specific characteristics of a producer or vineyard as well as the subtle differences that result from the different growing conditions of different vintages. While this can be difficult to arrange for someone new to wine, who only has access to the newest wines that are on the current market, if you have friends who collect wine and can help source the bottles this type of tasting can be very educational.

Horizontal Wine Tasting:

A horizontal wine tasting theme is much easier to put together. It is a tasting of various wines from the same vintage. Ideally, wines from the same region and general style are tasted from one vintage to compare the different producers and vineyards. This helps to learn about the characteristics of the vintage as well as the differences between the various producers or vineyards the wines come from. This type of tasting is much easier to put together than a vertical tasting because the wines all come from the same vintage. If you stick to a current vintage then you will have many options you can find in the marketplace. While it is generally best to stick to one region or style of wine, if you really want to challenge your guests you can include several wines from the same vintage but from different regions, grapes or countries to help learn about the, sometimes dramatic, differences between them.

Wine Region Theme:

A great way to learn a lot about a particular wine region is to host a tasting where the theme is just one wine producing area. Choose several wines produced in that region, from different producers, vineyards and sub-regions within the area. As you and your guests taste through them, pay attention to the similarities as well as the differences. Can you identify any characteristics that unify the wines? What sets them apart? Ask these questions to your guests. If you draw people out to talk, discuss and argue, your tasting will be more fun and educational.

Wine Scoring Party:

Another fun way to get your guests all personally involved is to ask everyone to score each wine. While most tasters find it easy to say if they like or don't like a wine, it requires much more attention to the details of the wine to give it a specific score. There are different ways to do this. One of the best is to supply your guests with a wine tasting score sheet which serves as a template to score wines. You can have sections with room for notes on the wine name, color and appearance, aroma, flavor and mouthfeel and overall impressions and conclusions. For the standard 100 point score they can give up to 5, 15, 20, and 10 points each for the color/appearance, aromas, flavors and overall impression/finish, respectively. The scores for each are added and added to 50 to create the final score between 50 and 100. You can then compare scores across guests and figure out how the wines ranked.

Wine and Food Pairing Dinner Party Theme:

Traditionally, wine is not meant to be enjoyed alone. Throughout history wine has accompanied food and many people believe that alongside food is where you should enjoy and judge wine. While tastings of wine alone is a lot of fun, a full dinner can really make the food and wine shine, bringing out nuances of each that were missing before. If you or your friends love to cook, pairing wine with each dish or course is a great way to both learn about the wines but also to learn about what types of wines work with specific foods. You can serve several wines alone with a given course and vote on which paired the best with the food. A fun way to do this is to choose a country or region and pair that area's cuisine with the wines produced there. For example, you can pair traditional Spanish cuisine with Spanish wines. The cuisine and wine of these old cultures grew up alongside each other over centuries and therefore they often create some of the most profound food and wine pairings. There are so many other options, from the general (like French wine with French food) to the specific (like Provençal cuisine with Bandol wine or Southwestern French cuisine with Bordeaux). If you are really enthusiastic you can even decorate the room and table in the style of that region to get everyone in the mood. Get creative and make it fun!

Josh Dusick is the editor of the Wine Tastings Guide at http://www.wine-tastings-guide.com where you can get information about how to host a wine tasting party, how to serve and taste wine and even about pairing wine and food.