Tips on hosting the ultimate wine tasting party!
Hosting a wine tasting is the perfect way to chill with good friends, sample some intriguing bottles and hone your wine knowledge in the process. But where do you start? We got the skinny from Rob Van Leer, beverage director at Vino Venue, a one-stop shop in Dunwoody with a retail store, wine club, restaurant and wine bar that hosts tastings and dinners.
Great Minds Drink Alike
According to Van Leer, one secret to a great wine tasting is to “know your audience.” Think about what kinds of wines they like and if they’re open to experimenting. His most important piece of advice: “Have fun and be creative.”
Pour Decisions
In terms of the number of wines to try, Van Leer suggests six to eight bottles. As for the optimum pour for each sample, he recommends 1 to 1.5 ounces. This helps ensure your guests don’t over-imbibe. You can also advise them to spit their wines, particularly toward the beginning, to keep the palate fresh. Offering food and water or coffee helps as well. You could also suggest on the invitation that guests use a ride-sharing service to get to and from the party.
You Had Me at Merlot
Stumped as to what wines to serve? Consider picking a theme and making your selection based on the country, region, appellation, variety, price point, style or vintage. Van Leer says comparisons are also fun. For example, you could do a battle of North and South American wines or match a Sancerre against a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. If you want to add a competitive element, consider doing a high/low blind tasting and having guests try to guess, without seeing the bottles or having any information, which one is the more expensive. (To help maintain the secrecy, pour the wine into decanters.)
Another Glass? Wine Not!
Lest you think you and your guests need a fresh glass for each sampling and thus you’ll have a sink full of dishes at the end of the night, Van Leer says it’s fine to use the same glass throughout. Just rinse it each time with a high-quality bottled water such as Acqua Panna. Good wine glasses are designed to enhance the aromas, textures and flavors of wine, so Van Leer recommends using all-purpose, 12- to 20-ounce crystal stemware from a reputable manufacturer like Riedel or Schott Zwiesel.
Sips and Dips
Naturally, you’ll want some nosh with your slosh. Van Leer favors matching your snacks to the wines but also keeping these general rules for pairing food and wine in mind: Avoid anything too spicy, consider items with a high fat content (think triple cream cheese and lamb lollipops), or, if you’re sampling sparkling wines, opt for salty, crunchy foods. To cleanse your palate between samplings, nibble something bland, like a plain cracker.
Read Between the Wines
A tasting is an excellent way for people to explore new wines and enhance their knowledge. Just keep in mind it’s a party, not a classroom. One way to educate your guests is to provide them with cards listing basic info about each bottle, such as the varietal, winery name, appellation, region, country and vintage, as well as details about the winery’s terroir. You might also create a map marked with the location of each winery. The one thing Van Leer recommends not sharing is tasting notes because they can influence the guests as to the flavors of the wine. “Let them decide for themselves whether they taste blackberry or strawberry,” he says. For the ultimate wine tasting, hire a professional sommelier from a wine retailer like Vino Venue who can recommend bottles, handle pouring and share expertise. Cheers!
VINO VENUE
770.668.0435
vinovenue.com
@vinovenue
