How to Host a Wine Tasting Party

 

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You don’t have to jet off to Napa in order to enjoy a weekend of wine tasting. Actually, you don’t even have to leave your own home! In today’s post, we’re sharing five steps to host your own wine tasting party.

Choose a Theme

When you begin piecing together the details of your wine tasting soiree, one of the most important aspects to consider is the theme. You could choose wines from a specific region, like Tuscany or Bordeaux, or local from your own state. Or, you could choose one varietal from different areas, like Pinot Noirs from Australia, Italy, France and California. Keep the number of different wines to about five, so as not to overwhelm your guests’ palate. For this post, we decided to choose a wine tasting theme with varietals from Cupcake Vineyards, based in the Central California coast.

Select the Food Pairings

For a wine-tasting event, it’s essential to have a few complementary bites available for your guests. While you should try the wines by themselves without food first in order to appreciate each wine’s flavor, different foods can also be tried with the wines in order to bring out certain flavors. However, you don’t want to distract the palate from the intricacies of each wine, so stick to light items like crackers, cheese, dark chocolate or grapes. 

Think about Presentation

The set-up and presentation of the wines is another essential factor in engaging your guests in the tasting. A great way to excite your party is to offer them a preview of what the wine tasting entails. Neatly placing each bottle of wine, in order from light to dark, with a glass of each poured in front of their respective bottles will grab your guests’ attention and taste buds.

Lead the Tasting

The next key to a carefully crafted wine tasting event is how you lead your guests in the actual tasting of the wines. The order in which you present each glass of wine, such as light to dark or in varietal years, indicates a carefully though-out process and excellent party planning skills. Some of your guests might even begin to think of you as a wine connoisseur! Also, share with the party some of the most important techniques to remember while tasting wine, including the attention that should be given to the smell, sight and sound of each wine. Take a look at this insightful video for more information and tips on wine tasting’s most important techniques, and maybe even watch it with your guests as a fun way to kick off the tasting.

Incorporate Scoring Cards

Last but not least, incorporate a little game-like fun into your wine-tasting party. Have everyone manage a wine-scoring sheet to keep track of the party’s most popular wines, and at the end of the night, crown one special wine as the night’s winner.

Keeping these simple steps in mind, you’ll be able to plan a wine tasting party that’s fun and easy. You’ll be wining and dining your guests with style and elegance in no time!