Wine Parties & Tasting Tips

Many people make this mistake of thinking that, in order to experience fine wine tasting, they need to jet off to a luxurious location such as the south of France or Italy. However, as this latest guide from the Octavian blog will cover, this is actually far easier to do that one would think, right here in the UK.

For a start, you can acquire pretty much any Bordeaux or other fine vintage wine you can get abroad here in the UK. So, although the surroundings of a classic vineyard never go amiss, you can still sample the best through wine tasting at home.

All you really need to do other than acquire your wines of choice, is to find some peers who enjoy wine tasting and lay on a party to remember. Whether you get some assistance with this in the form of a party planner or simply put on a pleasant evening with your friends, the choice is yours.

So, what should one remember when laying on such an affair?

One of the first things to bear in mind when wine tasting at home, is to put down placemats near each wine so you can write down what each one is.

When fine wine tasting, it may be a good idea to choose a theme so people aren’t needed to adjust their taste buds all night. You could have one theme all night or perhaps carefully plan a few which are separated by some food or other form of entertainment.

Some popular these for wine tasting at home are:

• Comparing Pinot Noirs
  Comparing Californian Wines
  A Burgundy Themed Night
  Old World Vs New World

Although you most probably want all your best friends at your wine tasting night, it probably makes sense to be quite selective over your guests. Aside from the fact that you will be spending a great deal of money on wines to share with your party, fine wines may not be everyone’s cup of, well, wine.

Smaller groups also encourage more engaged conversation and single bottles of wine are usually best served to groups of 10 or smaller. Many guests will also want to re-taste their favourite tipples, so this should be considered when you are devising your guest list and how much fine wine you are going to need to invest in.

Although the fine wines you choose and serve are what will ultimately make or break your wine tasting party, your menu can compliment these perfectly and give your party that extra something special.

If you are an advanced wine expert then you can really go to town with this aspect of your evening and look into things such as the tannins, acids and sugars in your food and how these can bring the most out of the wines you are serving. This can make for a great conversation starter and obviously, any way you can enhance the flavour of what you are serving and therefore the experience of your guests should be explored.

Some foods that tend to complement various wines include:

• Creamy Cheeses
• Chocolate
• Citrus Dishes
• Salty Snacks (Nuts etc)

One needs to be very careful when matching these though, so proceed with caution. If you are still learning about wine and cuisine then it may be worth finding an expert chef of sommelier to help you devise the perfect wine, food combinations.

Finally, when you are convinced you have your guest, location, wines and menu perfected, all that remains is to set the perfect agenda for the evening so everything runs perfectly. If you are a regular host, then this won’t prove to be too difficult but here are a couple of pointers to get you started.

Serve your wine correctly. Line your wines up so you move seamlessly from bubbly upon arrival to your lighter white wines. The move onto y our richer whites before serving any rosés you have in your selection.

Once these are safely negotiated and your guests have indulged in few nibbles, you can then bring out our fine red wines, burgundies and Bordeaux. This will probably serve as the main event of your wine tasting at home and following some more sublime food you can finish off beautifully with some dessert wine.

Stick to the usual rule of 4045 degrees for anything sparkling or white and 55-65 for your reds and as long as you have invested in the best and nailed all of the above, we think your fine wine tasting at home will be a resounding success.