Prepping Your Wine Tasting Party: Wine Tasting Table Set Up

As this party is all about experiencing whatever the wine's aroma offers, ask guests to bring their favorite bottle of wine. Request that they inform you of their choice ahead of time, so you can look up the wine's tasting notes, and choose the priming ingredients.

Then, proceed to set-up your beautiful wine arrangement this way:

• Line up the wine bottles along the back of the tasting table.
• Place small bowls or ramekins of the priming ingredients in front of the wine they represent. For example, a bottle of Merlot may have bowls containing chocolate and blackberries in front of it, and Chardonnay may have bowls of vanilla bean and apple as a primer.
• Create a note card for each bottle of wine with its tasting notes, and place the cards behind their bottles.
• Place red and white wine glasses on either end of the table.
• Place a couple of pitchers of water on the table, and a discard container. Guests can rinse their glasses with the water and then pour it into the container, or use it as a spittoon.
• Offer plain crackers as a palate cleanser between wines.