8 Tips For Holding A Wine Tasting

Here’s How to Hold a Successful Wine Tasting

Do you have a bunch of wine-loving friends? Well, as they say, birds of a feather flock together. If you’ve got lots of friends and tasting wines is your preferred past time, then get your pals together and start organizing a wine tasting bash.

Of course, if it is your first time to organize a wine tasting, you would probably appreciate some advice on how to go about it. First of all, I would say that the number of people at the tasting is not really a critical factor. Some say, the more the merrier but, when it comes to wine tasting events, you really don’t need to have a large number of participants for it to be a stellar success. You can have a tasting with as few as four to twelve tasters, including yourself. Well, let’s get down to it. The following are seven useful tips to help make your wine tasting event a huge success.

Creative themes:

Be resourceful in picking a theme for your wine tasting. The more imaginative your concept is, the more fun your friends and family are likely to have. You should also keep in mind that your chosen theme determines the wines that your friends and family will be bringing. You can have themes like “Wonderful Italians,” “Color your Glasses with Reds,” “Pair Up and Share” and of course, you can always have a blind tasting.

Personalize:

As soon as you have determined who your guests will be, you should send them invitations. You can even opt to send them on the web, you know what wonders the World-wide-web can create!

Decorate the Venue to Make It “Wine Friendly”:

Decorate your site with wine favors or ornaments that relate on your chosen theme. You can have a white tablecloth, candles, paintings and whatever else you can come up with. As long as you keep the atmosphere light and attractive, your wine tasting event will surely be a winner!

Food and Wine Pairing:

You now have your wines that match your theme, but don’t forget about one more very important thing: FOOD. It goes without saying that you should serve food that compliments the wines you’re tasting.

Correct Serving Temperature:

To fully experience all the best characteristics of the wines, be sure to serve them at the proper temperature. Here’s a rough guide: 37 – 43°F for sweet white wines; 41-45°F for Champagne and other sparkling wines; 46-50°F for young dry whites; 48-54°F for mature whites and roses; 52-59°F for young white wines; 54-63°F for Port and Sherry; 58-63°F for mature full-bodied reds; 59-65°F for aged red wines.

How to Serve the Wines:

There are lots of things to consider when serving wine to your friends, and they are as follows: so that nobody swirls the wine on your tablecloth or carpet, always fill the glass only one-third full; for every 750 ml bottle, you will only get eight to twelve glass-fulls; Red wines should be served after the whites; serve blush wines in between whites and reds.

Spit Buckets and Water:

Don’t forget about the spit buckets and water. The buckets will prevent your guests from getting too sloshed, and the water is useful for clearing the palate.

Engage your Guests:

Wine tasting is great, but if you engage your friends in the tasting with a few added accessories, the special event will be all the more enjoyable. Present them with pens and paper so they can jot down some tasting notes. Afterwards, you’ll be able to initiate a little discussion relating to those notes. Or you might even have a wine trivia quiz to keep the conversation going.

Holding a wine tasting is a surefire way to have good time! By keeping all the above tips in mind, you’ll be on your own way to having a successful wine tasting event!

Speaking of wine tasting, if you’re interested in going on a wine tasting tour in the Santa Barbara Wine Country, click on the Santa Barbara Wine Tasting link to visit our home page.