How to Plan, Prepare for and Host a Wine-Tasting Party

chillibreeze writer — Madhurima Chakraborty

Planning to throw a wine tasting party that would bowl your guests over? Whether you want to pair wines with cheese or are keen on vertical, horizontal, price point or any other kind of wine tasting – here are some great ideas to help you host a fabulous party! All you need is a little bit of advance planning, and you can make your party pop with fun!

Planning in advance is of utmost importance for hosting a party, as it will not only save your time and reduce stress, but also allow you to entertain your guests without a worry. Here's how you can enjoy quality wine and many a fun-filled moment with your family and friends.

Ten tips for planning a wine tasting party

1. What type of Wine Tasting Party?

Firstly, you need to decide on the type of wine tasting that you would like to host. Accordingly, prepare the list of sparkling wines, white wines and red wines that you will use for the party.

Some of the popular wine-tasting types include:

Wine and Cheese Tasting
Vertical Wine Tasting
Horizontal Wine Tasting
Old World vs. New World Wine Tasting
“Big Eight” Wine Tasting
Wine and Chocolate Tasting
Priceless Wine Tasting
Price Point Wine Tasting

2. Selecting the Party Date and Time

The next step for planning your wine tasting party should be choosing a day that is best for you. While selecting the party date, make sure you choose a day that does not have too many activities surrounding it. Try keeping the day or evening before the party-date free, so that you can have ample time for last minute preparations.

Once you have decided on the day, consider a time that not only suits the party theme, but also you and your family. An idyllic weekend afternoon or early evening may just be the perfect time for such a party.

3. Who to invite?

Prepare the guest list from amongst your friends, relatives and acquaintances - in fact, you can invite anyone you know who has a penchant for wine and is keen to learn about wines and experiment with new varietals.

Decide on how many ounces of each wine to be served per guest – this will help you estimate the number of bottles of each wine you will require for the chosen invitees. If you are throwing a big party, you can have each individual guest/family bring a bottle of wine from the list.

4. Getting the Equipment Ready

Glassware - Make sure you have enough glassware to provide at least 2-3 clear, stemmed glasses per person. If need be, you can even ask the guests to bring their own glassware! Pay attention to appropriate glasses for the different wine varietals. Serve sparkling and white wines in tall, slender glasses, while red wines in round, wide-rimmed ones.
Ice buckets - For chilling and holding sparkling and white wines.
Water and water glasses - For rinsing between wines
Dump bucket – for dumping left-over wine before next pouring
Tasting Cards/Paper and Pen - for describing and recording each of the wines tasted
Paper napkins and plates

5. Preparing the Food Menu

Food and wine goes hand in hand. In order to get the real taste of the various wines, you must be able to cleanse and refresh your palate in between wine tastings. It is a great idea to provide wine tasting party appetizers to help guests savor each new flavor of wine.

Fresh baked breads, bland crackers, different types of cheese, citrus and melon fruits make for great palate refreshers. On the heavier side, you can even include cold shrimp, chicken skewers, roast beef, paté and olives, BBQ, Asian or Cajun style foods which pair well with wines.

6. Where to host the wine tasting party?

Make sure there is ample light and ventilation in the party space, be it your patio or the dining hall. If you want guests to learn wine at the tasting, provide a white background so that they can see the natural color of the wines.

7. Setting the right party atmosphere

For a casual wine tasting party, set wines in buffet style, allowing guests to mingle and talk. However, in a formal setup, opt for sit-down tasting, with wines being served all at once or in groups or flights.

You can keep the party atmosphere light and engaging by decorating the party space with inexpensive candles, antique paintings and vintage wine bottles.

8. Timing the Event

Put all bottles upright at least 24 hours before the party to allow for sedimentation.
Bring all wines to the proper serving temperature about 2 hours ahead of the party: 45° for Sparkling Wines; 55° for White Wines; and 65° for Red Wines.
Set tables and put descriptors by each wine about an hour ahead.
Open the wines about 30 minutes before the party starts.

9. Selecting the order of Wine Tasting

Start off with the sparkling wines, followed by light to full-bodied still white wines, light to full-bodied red wines and light to full-bodied dessert wines (in the same order).

10. Who's a Wine Whiz?

To add some more intrigue to your party, offer guests with a “blind tasting” experience. Mask the identity of each wine by covering the bottle with foil or paper bag. Make sure to mark each bottle with a number to avoid confusion. Provide each guest with individual tasting cards to identify the respective wines. The person who identifies the most wines will win a prized bottle of wine.

Throwing a great wine tasting party can be a big task. But once you prepare your party-plan beforehand, the rest will just fall into place! So, have fun and enjoy.

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—About our writer:

Madhurima writes for chillibreeze.

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