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How to Host an At-Home Wine-Tasting |
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Written by Caroline Silverstone
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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.
Invite as many people as you are comfortable having into your
home at once. In your invitation, explain that you are hosting a
wine tasting and will provide at least 3 different wines to
taste, but that you would like for each guest to bring a bottle
or two of their favorite wine as well for everyone to try. You
may even want to have them do a little research on their wine,
by providing a list of questions that are somewhat generic but
will help each taster decide on whether the wine is a yes or no
for them. Some questions you might want to include are what
types of food go well with this wine, how much is it, where can
you buy it, is it best served chilled, should it breathe before
serving and is it a good wine to let age.
Set up your tasting in the manner you feel would best fit your
guests. A smaller group may enjoy sitting around a table, with
each person drinking the same wine at the same time and
discussing it together in more depth. For a larger group, it
might be better to set up wine tasting stations, with a couple
of wines together at each and people can move in small groups
from one station to the next.
Provide more than enough wine glasses - real ones, not
plastic. You can rent them if you need to from most party-rental
companies. Be sure to provide buckets for tasters to spit or
dump wine. Keep pitchers of water nearby to rinse glasses
between tasting and to occasionally rinse palettes. Baskets of
pre-sliced bread will also be necessary to neutralize your
guests' taste buds from time to time. Cheese and chocolate are
good accompaniments to certain wines. Placing them strategically
next to wines they pair with is a good idea. Refrain from
serving spicy foods or foods with very strong flavors as they
will inhibit tasting the differences between wines. In fact,
heavier finger foods may be best left for later after the bulk
of the taste testing has been done and guests are looking to
just relax and wind down a little.
There are many variations on the home wine tasting party. You
can have a contest where all the wines are brown bagged and each
guest must try to identify the wine by taste only. The person
with the most right wins a bottle of wine to take home. You can
also pre-set a price point to make things interesting. For
example, guests must bring their favorite wine under $15. In
addition, there are a variety of direct selling companies that
now offer at-home wine tasting parties. The benefit of these
parties is that you will often earn free and discounted wine for
yourself for acting as the host. The downside is that many
people dislike direct sales and may not come for that reason. If
you do choose to do a party of that type, stock up on a few
personal favorites to serve and enjoy with your friends after
the sales representative leaves or runs out of wine, whichever
comes first!
Enjoy your party!
About the Author:
Visit the The Wine Standard for wine gifts, wine glasses and accessories.
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