SHARE A WINE EXPERIENCE

Hosting a wine tasting offers a unique way to enjoy the company of friends while getting to know new wines.

~ Gina Gallo

A wine tasting should be a pleasant and relaxing experience, with an intimate small party and a simple pared down menu. It requires less preparation than a formal sit-down dinner, since light fare dishes such as cheese, crackers, and hors d’oeuvres can be served. Keep the guest list small to allow each person enough time to sample and discuss the different wines.  Use a white tablecloth and clear stemmed glasses to best show off the wines.

Savoring Different Wines
Coming up with a pouring list for your wine tasting is part of the enjoyment, and there are different ways to decide this. For example, you may want to compare different white wines such as Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Sauvignon Blanc. Or you may want to compare one varietal from different regions such as a Cabernet Sauvignon from California and one from Chile. We offer you some tasting suggestions below to make a wine tasting easy and enjoyable for the novice, experienced or expert wine consumer.

The rule of thumb when tasting several wines is to taste dry wines before sweet, and light wines before fuller bodied wines, and sweetness and bodied being the same white wines before reds.  You can use the helpful chart below as a guideline:

Don't Forget the Glasses!
Once you have decided what type of wines you are going to taste, make sure that you have the glasses ready. For example, if you were to taste four Chardonnays, each guest should have four different glasses so that all four wines could be tasted together. A proper wineglass should taper in slightly at the rim to keep the flavors and aromas concentrated. Red wineglasses usually are larger than white ones, but they do not have to be.

Record Your Impressions
Provide your guests with a pen and paper to record their thoughts on each wine tasted. You can download our Wine Tasting Cards to help guide your discussions.

Look…
Pour a small amount of wine into each glass (1 to 2 ounces). Any more will be difficult to swirl the wine in the glass. Hold your glass in front of a white background and take a look at the color of the wine. This is an indication of the wine's body. A light red wine will probably be light to medium-bodied where a darker red is fuller-bodied. If a white wine looks deep golden rather than light yellow, then it will probably be a heavier white with more oak flavor.

…Smell…
Swirl to release the aromas. Smell the wine and note aromas. Does the wine smell fruity? Spicy? Oaky?

…Taste
Take a sip and breathe in air to intensify the taste. Close your eyes and concentrate on the flavors of the wine and the weight of it in your mouth, recording any details that impress you. Do you taste berries? Citrus? Herbs?

Finishing
Finally, what kind of finish does the wine have? Can you taste it for a while after swallowing or does the taste disappear quickly? What flavors do you taste? What is happening in your mouth? Is it beginning to water from the acidity, and/or is it dry and causing your mouth to pucker from the tannins?

Clean Your Palate
Take a sip of water or have a small piece of an unflavored cracker, i.e. Carr’s Crackers, in between tasting the different wines to rinse your palate.

Compare Impressions
After recording your thoughts, discuss the wines with your friends. Did everyone smell and taste the same characteristics in the wine? Which wines did you enjoy the most? Why?

Pick Your Party
Just choosing the wines for a wine tasting party can be fun, yet overwhelming.  We've gathered some recommendations below to help you, no matter what your level of wine experience.

An Introduction to Flavor:
Try several white and red wines together to learn more about the characteristics of the grape varietals. You will notice that some Chardonnays have more oak than crisp Pinot Gris and that Pinot Noirs are lighter than full bodied Cabernet Sauvignons.

A Challenge for More Experienced Tasters:
For those who have done this before, we suggest two challenges for your palate.

Challenge One: Compare three different style Chardonnays and evaluate how the terroir distinguishes them from each other.

Challenge Two: Try comparing different varietals from the same vineyard and evaluate the different aromas and flavors of the wine grown on the same piece of property.