| Thomas Jefferson said, “Good wine is a | | | | your party, keep in mind that for tasting |
| necessity of life for me”. No wonder he | | | | purposes, each pour should be about two ounces. |
| was one of our founding fathers! | | | | This means that for eight people or less, one 750 |
| More and more people are drinking wine these | | | | ml bottle should be enough. |
| days and why not? It’s readily | | | | 3. The question of food- No party would be |
| acknowledged by the medical community that | | | | complete without food. However, depending on |
| drinking red wine in moderation has a myriad of | | | | your goal for the event, you may want to wait |
| health benefits including lowering your risk of | | | | until after tasting the wine to serve food because |
| contracting heart disease, breast cancer, prostate | | | | food affects the taste of wine and visa-versa. If |
| cancer and cataracts. I don’t know about | | | | your goal is to have an informal gathering of |
| you, but for me, that’s a good enough | | | | friends and experience new wines with good food, |
| reason to enjoy a glass or two every night. In | | | | by all means serve food paired with the various |
| addition, it’s a nice way to relax after a | | | | wines. In fact, an easy and fun way to have a |
| rough day and getting together with friends over | | | | wine tasting party is to ask your guests to bring |
| a glass of wine is a great venue for socializing and | | | | the various courses (appetizers, soup, salad, |
| having fun. | | | | dessert) along with a paired wine while you |
| One way to do this is by hosting a wine tasting | | | | provide the main course and wine. If your primary |
| party. Besides being a lot of fun, this is an | | | | goal is tasting and judging new wine, it is more |
| excellent approach for learning about wine and | | | | appropriate to wait until after the tasting to serve |
| maybe finding a few new wines you really enjoy. | | | | the food. Instead, during the tasting, provide only |
| Below are some guidelines that will help you | | | | unflavored crackers (saltines) or bread to cleanse |
| organize a wine tasting that’s sure to be a | | | | the palette between wines. |
| hit. | | | | 4. Tasting and rating the wine- Remember to limit |
| | | | your pours to two ounces (visually, two ounces is |
| 1. Inviting your guests- The first thing you need | | | | about two inches in a normal size wine glass). |
| to consider when organizing a wine-tasting party is | | | | Place pitchers of water out for your guests to |
| how many people to invite. Generally speaking, 8 | | | | rinse their glasses or cleanse the palate between |
| to 12 is considered the optimum number of | | | | tastings. Also, have buckets available for those |
| guests. This size group is large enough to | | | | who choose to spit out the wine instead of |
| promote spontaneous interaction and small enough | | | | swallowing it. Spitting is not necessarily an |
| to be easily manageable. Whether you telephone, | | | | indication of not liking the wine. Many wine tasters |
| email, or sent written invitations is a personal | | | | spit so they will not be affected by alcohol |
| choice. I happen to prefer sending email invitations. | | | | consumption. Especially if the tasting is to be |
| American Greetings has a great card site that | | | | followed by socializing and drinking wine. One |
| includes “eInvites”. It’s a | | | | suggestion for tasting and rating the wine is to |
| wonderful service where you can send invitations | | | | simply hand out paper and pens to each of the |
| and your guests can simply click a button to | | | | guests as they arrive so they are able to make |
| RSVP. You can even schedule follow-up reminders. | | | | notes on each wine tasted. To make this process |
| The American greeting site has a $20.00 yearly | | | | more structured and organized, you can download |
| membership fee, but for all the ecards and | | | | and print wine tasting forms from the internet. |
| services, I think it’s worth it. | | | | Clicking on the following link will take you to |
| 2. Choosing the wine- In my opinion, choosing the | | | | Wine-Reviewer where you may download a wine |
| wine to taste at your party is the best part of | | | | tasting review form. Wine reviews [ You may |
| the planning stage. But then, I happen to get | | | | reduce the chance of ratings being influenced by |
| mesmerized every time I walk into a large wine | | | | personal preference or prejudice by having a |
| store. There’s so much to choose from. | | | | “blind tasting”. To do this, completely |
| There are many different ways you can handle | | | | wrap each of the bottles with aluminum foil and |
| wine selection. One option is to consider a themed | | | | label it with a number. The wine will then be |
| party. For example: “California | | | | identified and judged by the number on the bottle. |
| Chardonnays”, “German | | | | To make the evening a bit more interesting and |
| Rieslings”, “Wines Under | | | | educational, research the wine, winery and |
| $10.00”, or “Italian Reds”. The | | | | wine-making region. Your guests will probably find |
| possibilities here are endless, so don’t be | | | | the information interesting and will appreciate your |
| afraid to be creative. Another option might be to | | | | effort. |
| choose wines from a particular winery or even to | | | | Using these guidelines, having a wine-tasting party |
| select different vintages (years) of the exact | | | | is as easy as 1-2-3-4. Have fun, but please |
| same wine. Selecting different vintages of the | | | | remember to drink responsibly and do not let |
| same wine is called a vertical tasting and this may | | | | others drink and drive. If possible, have someone |
| be more costly to do since older vintages tend to | | | | be a designated driver to insure that everyone |
| carry a higher price tag. When buying the wine for | | | | gets home safely. |