How to Host a Wine Tasting Party

Plan for no more than 10 guests. This keeps the party intimate, encourages discussion, and makes serving everyone manageable. Let everyone know what kind of food you will serve so that no one shows up expecting more food than will be available. If you feel comfortable, it is also a good idea to remind guests to avoid wearing strong perfumes or lotions. These could interfere with the aromas of the wine during the wine tasting.

Plan to purchase about 5 different wines for your wine tasting. Select a theme for the wines you will serve. For example, you might choose all wines from one region, a lineup of old world vs new world wine, a set of rich bold reds, all dessert wines, all local wines, or all Spanish red wines.
 
For a party of 8-10, plan to buy 2 bottles of each wine. A tasting serving is about 2-3 ounces, so you can pour approximately 10 samples from one bottle. The second is for anyone who wants a second taste, or to just drink afterward.

You will need the following for each guest:

Wine-friendly snacks and appetizers can be a delicious addition to a wine tasting. Bruschetta, cheese straws, breadsticks, mixed olives, chocolate, cheese, and mixed nuts are all excellent choices. If you’re feeling up to it, also consider serving some small plates that will pair well with the wines that you serve.

Note: Professional wine tastings rarely serve food beyond water crackers as palate cleansers. However, most guests will love these fun snacks (we know we would).

Before your guests arrive, set a place for each of them at the table. Lay out the empty wine glasses, a water glass, a spittoon, napkin, and note-taking materials. Also set out the palate cleansers so everyone can easily access them. Avoid decorating with scented candles or aromatic flowers.
 
Keep white wines, sparkling wines, and rosés in the refrigerator until it’s time to serve them. Allow enough time to decant any bold red wines.
 
If desired, prepare a simple aperitif to hand to your guests as they arrive and settle in for the tasting. You may also want to select some crowd-pleasing background music.
 
Serve the wines one at a time, starting with the lightest wine and finishing with the darkest and heaviest wine. As a rule of thumb, serve the wines in this order: sparkling, white, rosé, red, dessert. Staggering the sampling to one pour every 15 minutes will encourage guests to take more time in analyzing the wines.
 
Talk about the wines. Explain what you see, what you smell, what you taste, and what you like. This is where the information about each wine will come in very handy. You and your guests can enjoy the rest of the wine party talking about the delicious wines!