{"id":4461,"date":"2020-06-28T10:06:46","date_gmt":"2020-06-28T17:06:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/danthewineguy.com\/?p=4461"},"modified":"2020-06-28T10:21:22","modified_gmt":"2020-06-28T17:21:22","slug":"hosting-a-wine-tasting-party-is-a-perfect-small-group-activity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/?p=4461","title":{"rendered":"Hosting a Wine Tasting Party is a Perfect Small-Group Activity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This article originally appeared, in part, in the July\/August, 2020 issue of Bellingham Alive Magazine<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking for a little social\nactivity that\u2019s low-cost, informative, and fun? Consider hosting a wine tasting\nparty for a small group of friends; it\u2019s a great way to stimulate conversation\nand lift your spirits while getting a fresh perspective on wines you might not\nordinarily buy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Set your tasting party in motion\nby selecting a theme. You can choose wines to taste from the same winery, or\nthe same part of the world \u2013 Napa, Spain, Bordeaux, or Walla Walla, for example\n\u2013 and have each guest or couple bring a bottle to share. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My favorite theme is the blind\ntasting. Start by making sure everyone brings the same varietal; all Chardonnays,\nall Merlots, etc. This \u201clevels the playing field\u201d so to speak, by comparing\nwines with similar characteristics and flavor profiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Have your guests bring their wine\nin a bag to conceal its identity and remove the corks and upper foil labels.\nYou can then either number the bags and pour from there, or tape the name of\nthe wine to the bottom of identical decanters, pour the wine into the decanter,\nand number the bottle prior to serving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Provide score sheets with rating\nscales and room for notes so tasters can record their preferences. And have fun\nwith your scoring system! Instead of a boring 1 to 10 rating scale, I use\ndescriptors for each level such as, \u201cI thought this was supposed to be wine,\u201d\nto \u201cThis could replace one of the basic food groups,\u201d to \u201cPerfection!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep your pours at about 1-1\/2 to\ntwo ounces each to allow tasters the opportunity to revisit each wine. This\ngives them a chance to change their order of preference and makes for better\ncomparisons with wines that were sampled earlier in the tasting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When everyone has completed their\nscoring, designate someone to compile and announce the results \u2013 preferable in\nreverse order to add a bit of suspense \u2013 while revealing each wine that corresponds\nto its number on the scoresheet. The top point-getting wine is considered the\n\u201cwinner\u201d of the tasting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A couple of other helpful suggestions:\nFirst, try to limit your blind tasting to no more than six to eight people\ntotal, which usually results in a \u201ccompetition\u201d of about four to six wines. If\nyour invite list exceeds much more than eight, simply take into consideration\nthat two bottles each of the same wine will likely need to be provided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, be sure to have palate\ncleansers on hand during the tasting such as bread or crackers, along with plenty\nof bottled water. Encouraging your guests to bring appetizers is another great\nway of cost-sharing for the event, but consider serving these either before or\nafter the blind tasting, as certain foods might interfere with the flavors and\ntastes of the wines you pour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve been hosting and attending\nblind tastings for years and there are plenty of great takeaways to be had.\nInvariably, there\u2019s a pleasant surprise when a lower-priced wine outperforms\nsomething twice the cost. I also find that I learn more about specific wines\nfrom different regions\u2026and that gives me a great reference point for future\npurchases because I\u2019ve had a chance to sample the wine in advance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, group participation\ninsures that everyone has a hand in the party\u2019s success. Share your wine\ntastings in the company of good friends, and you\u2019ll be practically guaranteed a\nfun and memorable experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article originally appeared, in part, in the July\/August, 2020 issue of Bellingham Alive Magazine Looking for a little social activity that\u2019s low-cost, informative, and fun? Consider hosting a wine tasting party for a small group of friends; it\u2019s a great way to stimulate conversation and lift your spirits while getting a fresh perspective on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-from-the-bellingham-herald"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4461"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4461\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4467,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4461\/revisions\/4467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}