Hosting a Wine Tasting Party

If you consider yourself a novice in the knowledge of wine styles and subtleties you are not alone. However, you don’t have to be a wine expert to host a fantastic, 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. Here are some of our thoughts on hosting a wine tasting party that is sure to be a success with your friends.

A common myth about wine is that it has to be expensive to be enjoyable. While there are certainly superb wines that are quite expensive, you can also find many wonderful wines that are under $10 a bottle. Herein lays the secret of wine tasting and enjoyment. The expert opinions or the price of the wine matter little in regards to what is pleasing to your taste buds. Hosting a wine tasting party is an excellent way to expand your taste buds, find these inexpensive wines that you enjoy and expand your knowledge of wine.

At Paisley Creek, we sell a great trivial pursuit style game to help facilitate hosting a wine tasting party. It takes the guesswork out of the process, makes it more fun and educational for your guests. Be sure to check this game out by clicking here or the picture of the Winerd game on the right side of your screen. . While the Winerd® game certainly raises the fun and educational level of your wine tasting party, the following guide should help you in the process if you decide not to purchase the game. We also sell a Wine Party Tasting Kit called "Name That Wine" that has everything you need to host a wine tasting party in your home. The Name That Wine - Wine Party Tasting Kit makes a perfect hostess, wedding shower, birthday or holiday gift. It's fun, it's easy and offers an enjoyable party experience for the wine novice or the wine connoisseur! Be sure to check out this great kit by clicking here or the picture of the "Name That Wine" Wine Party Tasting Kit on the right side of your screen.

As you prepare for hosting your wine tasting party, we recommend that you read our short Wine Guide. You can focus your wine tasting party on a particular style or theme that may compliment the dinner you will be serving later in the evening. For example, if you intend on serving a nice tomato based pasta dish, ask your guests to bring a bottle of Merlot that is under $10. Setting a price limit helps prevent that one guest from trying to buy the best wine by bringing the most expensive wine. Here is the basic process that you should follow for each bottle to do the tasting:

• Place each bottle of wine in a brown bag and number the bag so the guests cannot see the label. For a more classy approach consider one of our unique wine bags to cover the bottles. You can view our wine bags by clicking here or the picture of the wine bag on the right side of your screen.
• Prepare your table setting with glasses, crackers and some water for each guest. Crackers or bread can be used, but they should be of a neutral flavor. Stay away from flavored crackers so you can truly clear the palette. Crackers and cheese may seem like a great idea, but it should be avoided because the cheese will actually influence the flavors of the wine. If your guests may be hungry, a nice loaf of French bread can be used instead of crackers.
• We suggest you have a separate container for those guests who want to pour out the excess wine. Remember, this is about fun, education and friendship. Getting intoxicated is not the objective here and will most certainly deaden your taste buds.
• Open the first bottle of wine and fill the glass only about 20%. For red wines, you may want the wine to breathe somewhat by pouring off about ½ glass from each bottle. For white and blush style wines you may want to chill slightly before serving.
• We recommend rating each wine according to the following three senses: sight, smell and taste. You may find that you like the look of one wine over another, but prefer the aroma of another. You may also find one wine with a wonderful aroma, but it may be too bitter for your liking.
  • Sight - The first step in the process is to examine the wine and make notes about the color, clarity and transparency of the wine. Rank the color of the wine on a scale of 1 to 10 based on your personal preferences. Record notes as necessary.
  • Smell - The second step is to smell the wine. Swirl the wine around in the glass to help awaken the aromas and take a good sniff of the bouquet and aroma. Again rank the wine on a scale of 1 to 10 based on your personal preferences. Try to detect any subtle aromas in the wine. Trust us, you get better at this with experience.
  • Taste - Now the best part. Taste the wine. Take a small sip and roll the wine over your tongue inhaling slightly to release the full flavors. Different parts of the tongue register different tastes so be sure to roll the wine around in your mouth. Try to focus on the characteristics of the wine such as the body, acidity, tannin (bitterness), sweetness and fruitiness of the wine. Also be sure to focus on the aftertaste of the wine. Again, make notes on the flavors and subtleties of the wine and rate it on a scale of 1 to 10 based on your personal preferences.
• Once all of your guests have finished tasting the wine be sure to clean your glass or start with a fresh one. Also be sure each guest cleanses their pallet by eating a small cracker and/or drinking a small amount of water.

After you have cycled through all of the wines, have each guests finalize their notes and identify their most and least favorite wine for each of the three senses: sight, smell and taste. We recommend that each individual also pick their all-around favorite and least favorite wine. Begin comparing notes for each of the wines. Once the favorites are identified by each individual, remove the bags from the wine bottles to identify the winners and losers.

If serving a meal afterwards, offer your guests some of the wine just sampled with the meal. This will further expand on the tasting process as foods are introduced to complement the wines.

This can be a fun and exciting way to host a wine tasting party in your home with some of your friends. Please be sure to drink responsibly and select a designated driver to ensure the safety of your guests. If you are looking for an even better way to host a wine tasting party, be sure to check out our Winerd® game. The game includes a game board, nearly 300 fun and interesting Q&A cards relating to just about every aspect of wine, 12 Bonus/Challenge cards, 4 custom synthetic cork playing pieces and a Blind Taste Test Notepad. This game is sure to take your wine tasting party to a higher level by making the process more fun and educational.