Hosting A Wine Tasting Party

As your love and knowledge of wine grows, it is inevitable that you will want to share your revelations with friends and family. Hosting a wine tasting party is a great way to do this.

When planning a wine tasting party, some obvious questions about parameters arise. How many people should you invite? What types and how many wines should you pour?

It is my opinion that an informal gathering should be kept to 12 people or less. This ensures that conversation and dialogue will be much more conducive than with a larger group.

Blind tasting is the most fun and informative. Wrapping bottles in bags will negate past preferences and prejudices. You may be surprised what you "like" without access to the wine label.

Focus on a relatively specific style of wine. Within this framework, some variations should be considered. I recently hosted a wine tasting party where we tasted Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignons.

To make it more interesting, we tasted two wines from Rutherford, (valley floor) two from Stags Leap, (east hills) and two from Mount Veeder (west hills). This was a pleasant and educational mix: a consistant varietal, but different styles from different regions. Another option is to taste the same varietal from the same region, but in different price ranges.

For the initial tasting, pour a small amount in each guest's glass. Refrain from pouring full glasses until every wine has been tasted to avoid the cloud of inebriation on the senses.

Provide some neutral flavored foods for your guests. Make sure this does not interfere or clash with the wine tasting. Don't serve blue cheese if you are tasting Pinot Blancs. Try bread or crackers and a mild, white cheddar or brie.

Paper and pencils are necessary for your guests to write notes and preferences. If you regularly taste with the same group, you may want to use a designated notebook as well as articulate some additional guidelines and procedures for the tasting notes. This will create and ongoing reference point and perspective as your tastes develop.

Benjamin Bicais lives in the Napa Valley and is the webmaster of http://www.california-wine-tours-and-accessories.com

Related Articles:

Red, White & Zin: Local Wine Tasting Paired Perfectly with Palm Beach Gardens Marriott
Northern Palm Beaches Chamber of Commerce is hosting a wine tasting event cleverly called "Red, White & Zin" on Sunday, November 2, 2007 from 6-9 p.m. at City Hall Plaza.

BlindWine®, the Only Complete Wine Tasting Game in the U.S., Will Make its First Appearance at The Seattle Gift Show®, August 18-21
BlindWine® Wine Tasting Game Featured at Gift Shows: Atlanta, Los Angeles, Seattle

Guidelines for Hosting an Entertaining and Educational Wine Tasting Party
You don?t have to be a wine expert to host a terrific, fun and educational wine tasting party. This is a great way to socialize with your friends and learn a little about wine at the same time. Hosting a wine tasting party is an excellent way to expand your taste buds, find great inexpensive wines that you enjoy and expand your knowledge of wine.

Harvest in Finger Lakes Wine Country Offers Wine Tasting, Fall Foliage, and Culinary Classics
The fall grape harvest comes alive in Finger Lakes Wine Country, New York with harvest festivals, wine tasting dinners, and bed and breakfast packages.

Better Wine Tasting: The Winery Advisor Tasting Room Personality Profile
Want to know how to maximize your wine tasting experiences Of course, you can read blogs about wine, but I?d rather go to the tasting room and enjoy my wine right at the winery

Tips On Regulation A Wine-tasting Fundraiser
Obviously, a wine-tasting reaction needs wine experts, ergo eventuate by quarry helpful merchant partnerships based not unique on expertise, but besides access to the best wines. After all, you have to be able to provide numerous bottles of expensive wine and there's no sense in paying anything near retail price.

Host A Wine Tasting Party
A Wine Tasting Party is an ideal way to get friends and family together to learn about wine and experiment with new or unusual varietals. It can help to break the ice and give your partygoers some great conversation down the line. I myself had a wine tasting bridal shower. Rather than the usual shower games we tried different wine and paired yummy food with it. It was a great icebreaker and gave guest that didn't know each other something to chat about.

How to Give a Perfect Wine Tasting Party
Hosting the perfect wine tasting party will make you the talk of your social group The perfect party will allow you to entertain your guests and ensure everyone is happy

Wine Tasting For The Average Joe
Going to a wine tasting can be a very fun and enjoyable experience. However, many people do not attend for fear of not knowing exactly how to act or what to do. There no great mystery to wine tastings, just a few things you should remember.

An Introduction to Wine Tasting
Wine Tasting

Take a Wine-Tasting Tour While Yachting
Just think of it, the world of opulence and leisure: You're on a luxury yacht. You're sailing the ocean blue, not a care in the world.

How To Host An At-Home Wine-Tasting
Wine tastings are always a fun outing, but often commercial ones just don?t last long enough. There are still things to be learned about each wine. Maybe you didn?t quite get to taste certain ones. Or perhaps you wanted to try a particular one with a certain food. The easiest way to make sure you get all you want out of your next wine-tasting is to host it at your own home. Another benefit is that you don?t have to worry about driving afterwards.

Wine Tasting - 4 Simple Steps
Tasting wine is more complex then simply drinking Wine tasting is about more than hydration

Identifying Your Favourite Types Of Wine - The Basic Principles Of Wine Tasting
There are more types of wine than we can count and how on earth are we to choose one when faced with a huge bank of bottles Educating yourself in the wines you like is quite easy if you just make a few notes following a set pattern so that you can compare the wines you have drunk to find the ones you like best

Wine Tasting -- The Traditional Way
Wine tasting is properly known as 'Wine Degustation'. It is the art of being able to note the various differences between difference types of wine, and even the various differences between the vintages of the same type of wine.