It’s spring, a great time of year to starting planning a wine tasting party. Everyone has recovered from all the winter holidays and this will be a great excuse to get all of your family or friends together.
Sound like a lot of work? It does not have to be. It can be a combination wine tasting/pot luck, with everyone bringing their favorite appetizer or finger food to share along with the vino. The goal is have fun and hopefully share some great food and wine.
You will need:
- Wine glasses, of course
- Plain crackers for guests to clean their palates after tasting
- A large bowl or container, so guests can pour out any wine they don’t want
- Non-alcoholic beverages such as cola in case you have any none-wine drinkers attend
Start with a theme. Ideally, you will want to have five to ten bottles of wine for the tasting.  Picking a theme will help any of your guests who may feel intimidated by having to choose a bottle of wine from among the hundreds on grocery store shelves.
For example, on your invitation you could have them buy any bottle of wine that’s under $10, or have them get a certain varietal such as Merlot. You could even do a kind of wine scavenger hunt, instructing them to bring a bottle that features some sort of animal on the label or that is from a winery in your home state. You could also give a door prize for the person bringing the wine voted the best, or worst.
Next, you will want to decide the party’s logistics. Do you want to open all of the wines at once and then let guests pick and choose which ones to try?  Or, would you rather have a more controlled environment, where everyone tastes the same wine and gives their reactions at once?
Your decision depends, really, on your guests. If most of them know wines, then perhaps they would enjoy comparing tasting notes. This would focus the evening on the tasting itself. But if you want to make it just another part of a fun evening, then the free form method might be the best.
Remember though, that four glasses of wine (about five ounces each) will make someone legally drunk in most states. So be a responsible host and remind everyone it is a wine tasting, not a wine guzzling party. Moderation is the key.  Also, keep the appetizers handy so everyone can snack while they taste.
After the party send out a follow-up email or card to list which ones were a hit or which ones were a miss.  A bad wine can get people talking just as much as a great one. Who knows, you may start a wine tasting party trend among family or friends, one that you can all enjoy for years to come.
