Hosting a Memorable Wine Tasting Party
By Kristi Paisley
Introductory comments by Royane Real
Author of “Your Guide to Finding Friends, Making Friends and Keeping Friends”
Do you want to give a boost to your social life? One good way to have more social interaction with your friends is to increase the amount of entertaining that you do in your own home.
For most people, having a successful social life means occasionally hosting a party to entertain their friends, relatives and co-workers.
Whether you have already hosted many dinners or parties in your home, or whether you have never had the chance to have a party, you probably want to host a party that is memorable and fun for your guests. You probably want something that is easy, and a little bit different from the regular sort of party.
You want to create a relaxed, pleasant atmosphere for your guests to enjoy themselves, and give them some excuse for them to easily talk with each other. Depending on your personal preference, you may want to create a party where you do a lot of the preparation yourself to dazzle your guests, or you may prefer a party that involves as little work as possible.
In the following article, the author Kristi Paisley explains how you can host a wine tasting party in your home. A wine tasting party can be a unique kind of experience, one that is just a little bit different from a regular dinner party.
You can make a wine tasting party very simple and casual, or you can make it very elaborate and formal, depending on your preference. If you like, you can supply all the different bottles of wine yourself, or you can ask your guests to bring some. If you want the party to be a communal effort, you can also make the event into a potluck dinner and ask each guest to bring some food as well.
Be sure to tell your guests in advance that the purpose of the party is to be an occasion to sample many kinds of wine, as not all guests will necessarily want to drink alcoholic beverages. Some people who enjoy tasting wine, actually do not drink any of it! They simply taste the wine, without swallowing!
The kind of wine tasting party described by Kristi Paisley in this article would be fairly simple to organize, and would lead to a lot of social conversation and interaction among the guests.
If you want to host a party for family or friends that is just a little bit off the beaten path, a wine-tasting party might be the perfect suggestion to try the next time you decide to entertain!
( The above introductory comments are written by Royane Real )
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Hosting a Memorable Wine Tasting Party
By: Kristi Paisley
You don’t have to be a wine expert to host an outstanding, fun and educational wine tasting party. This is a great way to socialize with your neighbors and friends and learn a little about wine at the same time.
Hosting a wine tasting party is an excellent way to expand your taste buds, find great inexpensive wines that you enjoy and broaden you understanding of wine styles.
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 duck, goose, roast chicken, roast beef or roast lamb ask your guests to bring a full flavored cabernet sauvignon or 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. Follow these simple steps for each bottle to do the tasting:
1. 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 using decorative wine bags to cover the bottles.
2. 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 they 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.
3. Be sure to 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.
4. 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.
5. Sample the wine and rate 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: 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.
- Smell: Swirl the wine around in the glass to help awaken the aromas and take a good sniff of the bouquet and aroma. Rank the wine on a scale of 1 to 10 based on your personal fondness.
- Taste: 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 fondness.
6. 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.
Also have each individual 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.
Of course, please drink responsibly and select designated drivers to ensure the safety of your guests.
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Kristi Paisley is a writer and world wide shopper looking for unique gifts to offer on her website. For great wine gifts and other unique gift ideas visit www.paisleycreek.com
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