Wine Tasting Parties
- Riesling/GewĂĽrztraminer: Asian foods, ham, turkey, chicken, cheese.
- Chardonnay/Sauvignon Blanc: shellfish, cream soups, rich fish dishes, vegetable side dishes.
- Pinot Noir/Zinfandel: turkey, roast beef, sausage.
- Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot: duck, goose, roast beef/lamb/chicken.
- Syrah/Rhone varietals: caviar, smoked salmon, cold cuts, egg dishes, sushi, soups.
- Dessert wines: sweets.
Throwing Your Party
Invite guests via emailed or mailed invitations. Give guests about two weeks’ notice and inform them of the theme of the party in the invitation. If your party is informal, it is fine to ask each guest to bring a side dish. More formal events should have all food provided by the host or hostess.
If you want your guests to rate the wines, give each one a pen and a pad of paper before the tasting. Encourage them to make notes as they drink. If your crowd is made up mainly of wine novices, you may want to provide your guests with some vocabulary to help them along. Here are some wine terms you can share with your guests:
- Acidic: tart or sour taste.
- Big: more flavor and/or alcohol than average.
- Character: how long the wine lingers on the palette.
- Clean: no off-odors or tastes.
- Dry: without noticeable sweetness.
- Fat: higher-than-average alcohol content.
- Flat: having no acid tang.
- Flowery: having a floral aroma.
- Nouveau: made to be fresh and full of fruit character/not meant to age.
- Oaky: stored in a wood barrel.
- PH: the intensity of the acidity.
- Residual sugar: sugar left in the wine after alcoholic fermentation.
- Salty: the mineral content of wines.
- Varietals: made totally or primarily from a single type of grape.
- Velvety: the mellowness of the wine.
Set up a bar or table with a glass for each guest. To establish the purpose of the tasting, announce the theme of the party and how it relates to your guests. Serve wines from dry to sweet. As you serve each type, describe it (unless you are having a guessing party!) and serve two ounces of each wine for each guest. This is about two inches in a glass. Allow each guest to taste slowly and clear their palette before serving the next wine. If you really want to encourage your guests to experience the different flavors, rinse out their glasses, or have extra glasses ready.
You can buy or create some small “markers” for your guests’ glasses to help distinguish them if they are going to be walking around. These are little tokens of various shapes and sizes that attach to the stem of the glass.
After the tasting, serve guests an additional glass of wine with their appetizers or meal.
Encourage your guests to discuss their likes and dislikes so that you will know what to serve at your next party!
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