Ideas for a Wine Tasting Party

Tips and ideas for when you attend a wine tasting party

Last night I went to a wine tasting party of a friend. I had been really looking forward to the wine event. For me, a good wine tasting party is like Christmas morning, the candy shop and a bookstore all rolled into one.

They had planned to have about 50 wines being poured at about 6 different stations in the room during the event.  It seemed to follow typical wine tasting party protocol: lots of wine glasses in different sizes, bottles of wine, the glasses of water, the spittoons.
 
As I meandered around the room, I remember why I love wine tastings. A wine tasting allows one to act, and often look like, you know what you are doing, even if you really don’t. I even had a pad a paper to take notes, although I noticed I was about the only one doing that. It allowed me to feel impressive and very serious about the wines, but even then, I had questions.

Different Kinds of Wine Tastings:

While most wine affectionardos will agree that any opportunity to taste fine wines is a party in itself, there are different sorts of wine tasting events. A wine tasting can range from a more class like structure that is educational to a full course dinner where food and wines are paired or a much more open layout where the feeling is much more overall like a party. A wine tasting can cover a singular vintage or a line of products from a winery, to a planned range of reds or a sampling of Chardonnays, or like the one I attended, a full array of wines.

Planning Your Attack at a Wine Tasting.

There are certain individual preferences that will factor in during a wine tasting. Most wine tastings will follow traditions and will offer the notorious “spit bucket”, but as many people attend wine tastings to actually drink the wine, the bucket is an optional factor.

When I am given my druthers at a wine tasting party,  I like to walk around the room and get an overview of how they are laid out and what the wines being sampled are. Then, I come up with a plan that usually follows my expected wine tasting routine: bubbles first, then whites, then reds. I make a point to go back and drink the ones I like.

Wine Tasting Party Fauxpas?

I asked a friend, who is a serious collector, about his methodology of tasting. He likes to seek out the “trophy” wines first  to ensure he gets to taste the better wines before they are gone. Then he’ll do bubbles, then whites, then reds in no particular order.

Some people might tell him that he is doing it wrong. Within the “white” and “red” wine categories there is a tasting hierarchy: Sauvignon blancs come before chardonnay,  Pinot noir then merlot then cabernet sauvignon, and at last, syrah.  The idea is to begin the pallet with the “lightest” flavor and move on to the heavier more robust wines. Of course, without a clear cut guide, one might wonder: When does a white zin or a Riesling then fit in? I have found that it is much easier to not get intimidated by such things, but to relax and follow my instincts. After all, there is usually not any “wine police” attending these events if you dare drink a wine out of order!

Helpful ideas to get the most out of your next wine tasting party:

• Bring something to write down notes about the wines you taste:

This tasting has prepared cards in front of each bottle which was a real nice touch. These cards had tasting notes, wine scores and prices. I used the back of the cards to make notes for me. Such profound statements such as “Ugh” or “Buy it!” helped jog my memory the next day when all the wines I tasted began to meld in my mind. If I didn’t have the cards, I would have used my notebook. Bottom line: something to write down notes.

• Don’t be intimidated by the looks of other wine tasters.:

Other attendees might know what they are talking about, or they might not. It doesn’t really matter. You are there to taste wine. Enjoy it.

• Be open-minded about the wines you are presented with:

You might think you hate oakey Chardonnay’s, but maybe you just haven’t found the right one just yet. The idea here is a taste…no commitment, no long term obligation, and you don’t even have to swallow.

• Let the Wines speak to you:

Follow your instincts and let yourself relax and have fun.

After a wine tasting party, I feel if I found 5 or 6 new friends. And I do mean the wines, not people!  I have also renewed my memory for 5 or 6 more wines that I had forgotten about and that’s a pretty good result for a wine tasting in my book.

Now, I can’t wait for the next wine tasting.  In fact, now that I have listed all these ideas, maybe I’ll host a party myself!