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Planning on hosting a wine tasting party but have no idea how to do it? Worry, No More. Here is an ultimate guide on how to host a wine tasting party.
A party isn’t a party without wine. Wine makes the party. Why not make your party all about it? For those who live near the country, it might be a regular thing for them to have wine, but those who don’t live near the country can have access through your party and have an unforgettable experience. Even during holidays, you can throw a wine tasting party and bring all the wine lovers to your place.
Throwing a wine tasting party is great and you and your guests can have a fantastic experience. A wine tasting party can be a fun and exciting way to have lively conversations with your friends and try out new wines that you might not have otherwise tried.
Regular parties have become a bit boring. A wine tasting party would be something different, classy, and of course, fun. The same light bear and that bowl of sad pita chips and hummus are old now, so why not mix a little fun in it by hosting a wine tasting party. What you will be needing is some supplies, a bit of information and nerves to try something new. So dive right into the article to find all the ways and methods to throw a perfect wine tasting party.
How to Host a Wine Tasting Party
1. Choose a Theme for the Wine Tasting Party
Start by choosing a perfect theme for a wine tasting party. It is essential to know what kind of wines you and your guests would like to try. Deciding on a wine tasting party theme is quite a task because there are so many options. You can choose a specific country or a region, and you can choose a style like horizontal or vertical. Let’s look at the theme options that we have for our wine tasting party.
Vertical Wine Tasting
This wine tasting allows you to taste wine based on vintage years. This kind lets you experience how unique each year is to the world of wines. You can choose one wine variety from the same producer but different vintages. For vertical wine tasting, one should have excellent observation skills and might need to jot down taste details as there is a subtle change in all years depending on the weather. This wine tasting is educational as it allows you to appreciate and admire as the wine matures and ages.
Horizontal Wine Tasting
Horizontal wine tasting allows you to taste wine from a single year but with different procedures. It depends on you if you want to choose bottles of wine from the same region or worldwide. One excellent talking point of your tasting party would be the difference between a bottle of 4 to 6 wines.
Geographic Location
This wine tasting allows you to taste different wines from specific geographic locations. For example, locations like Napa Valley, Willamette Valley, Santa Barbara wine country, New Zealand, Rioja, the south of France etc., would be a great idea.
Blind Tasting
It is super fun and interactive activity that allows the guest to be critical and objective about the wine without bias. To do a blind tasting, start by pouring the wine into a pitcher or decanter, serve from a brown bag by wrapping it up with foil, or you can also label them, hiding the identity.
Grape Variety
There are so many varieties of wine that it is challenging to choose 4 to 6 wines at a wine tasting party. Instead, choose two red wines and two white wines from a single varietal. We believe that wine is made from 100 % unique grape variety. If you want to taste more wines, you can try up to three reds and three whites.
Wine and Cheese
Cheese and wine would make a great combo at a wine tasting party. Everyone loves cheese and wine, but pairing them together would be great. You can have different options of pairing up cheese together with wine. For example, try pairing mild salty cheeses with mild sweet wines. Or, you can try pairing salty cheese with sweet wines, or you can mix and match. It will be great either way.
Wine and Chocolate
Everyone loves wine, and everyone loves chocolate. How about pairing these two and making a great combo? Find a variety of excellent quality chocolates and serve them with wine. Such as, a little piece of chocolate with pineapple bits along with chardonnay would be so great.
2. Send Out Invitations
Send out invitations for your wine tasting party so your guests can prepare themselves for bringing any snack to complement the wine. An ideal number of guests at a wine tasting party should be around 6 to 12. Please make sure you invite guests who have similar ideas about wines, so you don’t get uncomfortable with that one person who seems to know it all when it comes to wine and educates everyone at great lengths.
3. Calculate How Much Wine is Needed
For most wine tastings two ounces is a standard tasting pour and an average bottle of wine is 24 ounces so you can pour 12 two ounces from each wine bottle. Most wine tastings have 5 to 7 wines, so depending on how many guests you you can calculate how many bottles of wine you will need to buy.
4. Plan Accompanying Menu
Serve the right food for a wine tasting party so the party can be more fun and memorable. Some simple appetizers or even a cheeseboard would be great with wine. Wine tasting parties are always stress-free so keep it easy. You can also choose the food your guests might like to have along with the wine. You can also ask the guests to bring some dishes to accompany the wine. Here are some appetizer options that you can serve with wine.
- Apple Cheddar Gougères with Crispy Prosciutto
- Burrata with Heirloom Tomatoes
- Burrata with Stone Fruit
- Chickpea Crab Cakes
- Sweet Potato Chips with Whipped Goat Cheese and Caviar
- Cranberry Pomegranate Baked Brie
- Caramelized Onion, Feta & Serrano Ham Flatbread
- Savoury Scones with Gruyere, Prosciutto and Green Onion
- Blueberry, Feta and Honey-Caramelized Onion Naan Pizza
- Fig, Honey and Goat Cheese Galette
5. Get the Necessary Supplies
Gather all the supplies you will need to host a wine tasting party. You don’t want to miss out on any of the supplies you might need for your party. Here is a list of supplies to get you started
- The wine: Choose your wine from different prices ranging from expensive to cheap and whatever you can easily afford. Keep enough wine for your guests; a bottle of wine can pour a total of five regular glasses of wine.
- Corkscrews/wine opener: Keep a backup in case it breaks.
- Ice bucket: To keep ice in so you don’t have to run to the fridge again and again.
- White napkins or white tablecloths are also necessary. So guests can see the color profiles of the wines.
- A decanter or an aerator for the wine are needed. It will help you bring flavors in red wine.
- A pitcher of ice water or cups of ice water for the table are also needed.
- Crackers or slices of bread to taste in between wines are also necessary.
- Glasses for the wine.
6. Create Itinerary
Creating an itinerary for a wine tasting party will help you properly organize the wine tasting party activities. Some activities that usually take place in a wine tasting party is drinking, taking notes, eating and playing games. The guests will be more engaged and entertained if all these activities are done according to a sequence. For example, when the guests arrive, give them about 20 to 25 minutes to settle in, offer them a drink, and start with all the activities. This way the party will be more exciting, fun and entertaining.
7. Play Games
You can also add more fun to your wine tasting party by asking guests to play games. Games are also another way to interact with the guests and allow the guests to socialize at your wine tasting party. For example, you can try putting the wine bottles into a brown paper bag, pouring the wine, and then asking guests which wine is. The winner can get a reward or just the satisfaction of whether he is a perfect wine taster or not. There are other games, such as Wine Bingo, Wine trivia, Wine options, Counting Corks and Guess the price.
8. Get Favors
Make sure that your guests leave with some goodies or favors. You can buy wine tasting party favors online. Also remember to have favors/gifts prepared for game winners.
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