How To Host a Wine Tasting Party

Whether you are merely pairing wines with specific cheeses, or doing a more advanced vertical or horizontal tasting, you are sure to notice subtle nuances in both red wines and white wines. Wine tasting can be easy - start by trying three totally different reds and three totally different whites and figure out what you like about them.

After trying this, I'll show you many other fun ways to have a wine tasting party - from vertical tasting to wine and cheese pairings. To glide into the tasting, remember to add musical notes to your wine tasting note cards. Ask your guests to bring along their ipods. Taking turns and choosing tunes will bring everyone into the spirit.

For the Grand Finale, offer a dessert wine or port!

To finish on a decadent sweet note, serve cheesecake paired with a dessert wine. The dessert wine I can't get enough of right now is Muscat de Saint Jean de Minervois. Enjoy your party, hold your glass high and recite the following, "Old wine and old friends are enough provisions."

My Personal Favorites

Here are my favorite red and white wines that you can consider having for your own wine tasting party.

Red Wines

• Dolcetto di Dogliani "San Luigi", Marziano Abbona Zinfandel Starlite Vineyard 2004
• Alexander Valley Pintia, Toro, Spain 2003
• Port Smith Woodhouse 1994 Late Bottle Vintage

White Wines

• Gewurztraminer Heissenberg domaine Julien Meyer 2005, France
• Riesling Mount Langhi Guiran 2006, Australia
• Chardonnay Russian River Valley Fritz 2006, California

Picking Your Flight

Your flight is your choice of wines. It's time to be experimental, fun, and fancy!

• To begin your wine tasting party planning, select your wine varieties.
• There are so many fabulous wines to choose from these days from reasonable to pricey. A few of my favorites are listed below.
• If these aren't carried in your local wine store, choose 3 reds like French Cabernet Sauvignons or Pinot Noirs or Italian Chiantis, then 3 whites like French Sauvignon Blancs or Chardonnays or Alsatian Rieslings.
• The key is to pick different wines from different regions around the world that pique your curiosity and bring you all over the tasting map.
• What better way to have your passport stamped!
• In the order of tasting, classic wine tasting wisdom suggests tasting the wines from lightest to heaviest.
• To figure out how to do that, check the alcohol levels on the label. (Lightest means less alcohol.)

Get the Party Started!

Here are a few pointers to get your wine tasting party started. We'll tell you how (and where) to get your tasting cards and, more importantly, what to do with your wine!

Setting the Stage
Send invitations to 8 - 12 friends for the ideal wine tasting party size.  You could use 3 glasses per guest and have them rinse tableside after the first three wines are tasted. If you want to keep it really easy, you can also set one wine glass per guest with plenty of water buckets for frequent rinsing in-between tastings. Remember to keep the atmosphere engaging and fun.

Wine Aroma Wheel

Whether you are a beginner or a wine connoisseur, a wine aroma wheel is a great tool to have on hand. The wheel will facilitate the description of the flavors you perceive. Check out Turning Leaf's Aroma Wheel.

Tasting Cards and Flight Sheets
Flight sheets are simply placemats with circles for placing the wine glasses. For a terrific resource with easy downloads, visit The Frugal Oenophile.

Wine Tasting Protocol

With tasting note cards in hand, have your guests sample each wine by itself, assessing the wine's unique color, appearance, aroma, body and flavors.