How To : Host A Wine Tasting
I drink wine… often. And I’ve been wine tasting more times than I can keep track of. I feel like I’ve wrapped my head around a lot of white wines. I’m not an expert but I can tell you the difference between a good chardonnay and a bad one. Reds on the other hand, have taken me a bit longer to figure out.
Wine tasting has always made me feel two ways. Either like I’m a child and the person talking to me about the wine is speaking a different language, or, like I'm just another credit card coming through the winery to drink and socialize. I hadn’t felt like I learned much on wine tasting trips in the past. Don’t get me wrong, it’s really fun and you get to try some great wine. But I think what I needed first was the basics. I need to know the difference between a merlot and a cab and how to know I’m tasting that without looking at the bottle.
So I wanted to put together a wine tasting that could help me figure all of that out! You could do this with any type of wine. Or even stick to one varietal and take your skills a step further. Here’s what we did to host a simple evening of learning the basics of red wine.
How to choose your wines
I basically gave myself one requirement when choosing the wine; price. Generally, wines in the same price range will be of similar quality. Plus, if I ended up loving any of them, I wanted to be sure it was something I could realistically stock our wine fridge with. One of our friends had mentioned they were part of a wine club at a winery I chose our first wine from. I decided on the rest from there hitting 4 varietals that I’ve tried, but couldn’t distinguish from one another yet.
What to suggest people look out for while tasting
A quick Google search will tell you to do 4 things while tasting:
Look at the wine
Smell the wine
Taste the wine (the fun part)
Come to a conclusion about the wine
I like to have an idea of what I’m looking for before beginning though. So by doing a little research, you can compile a list of things you may notice in your wines. I think that outlining these ahead of time can teach us what we should be looking out for. And once you are a little more experienced, you can begin to taste without the initial guidance and recognize all of the differences on your own.
Begin by setting your tasting up in order from lightest to heaviest. Ours went in this order, which you could also see in their range of color (from a pale translucent ruby to a deep opaque red): Pinot Noir, Red Blend, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon.
Give your guests a simple list of notes they might pick up on. Help them discover flavors and aromas that will help them differentiate these types of wine in the future. Here are notes that we found in the types of wine we were serving:
La Crema Pinot Noir: Pomegranate and sweet tobacco aromas followed by flavors of berry and plums with a subtle hint of spice.
Alexander Valley Vineyards Red Blend: A complex blend of black cherry, plum, cassis, blueberry, oak, vanilla and spice.
Ancient Peaks Zinfandel: Bright boysenberry aromas with hints of sandalwood and vanilla meet a juicy texture loaded with generous flavors of wild raspberry, black cherry, plum, mocha and cedar.
Bread & Butter Cabernet Sauvignon: Aromas of mocha, ripe berries, violets, and blackcurrant with layers of subtle black pepper, toasted oak and rich vanilla make give this Cab Sauv a round and luscious mouthfeel making it extremely smooth.
To complete your tasting, make sure to include a few of these details.
Plenty of water. Make sure guests are hydrated and can cleanse their palate with a little water.
A bread basket. For obvious reasons… but also how cute was our giant bowl of bread and crackers? Keep it fairly plain in terms of flavor though so that the wine is the highlight of the tasting.
A supply of wine glasses. Guests may want to switch out their glass depending on the types of wine you are serving.
And finally, ambience, because a gathering is never complete without some special decor. We set up our dining room bar with all of the tools for tasting, plus large bundles of greenery and a touch of candle light.
Shop the post >>
While we were super focused on learning flavors for our tasting, you could easily change the focus to anything else you are interested in learning about wine. Wine tasting doesn’t have to be stuffy or expensive. Do a little research so you are getting something out of it, keep it simple, and have fun chatting with friends while learning a bit about wine at the same time!
Have you ever hosted a wine tasting? What was your favorite part of learning about the wine?
Images by Kimi Domino.
