Wine Tasting

You and your friends can benefit a lot from having your own private wine tasting. If you choose to enjoy a bit fewer bottles you will be rewarded by going more in depth with each wine.
 
Get together with some good friends who are also interested in wine and food. Ask them if they are up to organizing a wine tasting or perhaps even start up your own wine club. Get together to figure out how the club should be formed. How serious are you? Is everything being tasted blind? Is there a minimum or maximum price level? Will you take turns hosting the tasting sessions? Will you be establishing themed tastings or are you freestyling each time?
 
A nice template for starting a wine club could be like this:
? Collect 8-10 people so you can make do with a single bottle of each wine.
? BYO (Bring your own) is a good idea as a general principle.
? Hosting in turn.
? The host sets the date and theme a few months in advance.
? Guests bringing one-two-three bottle(s) per person within the theme.
? The host prepares something to eat. The meal or snacks could correspond with the theme, if possible.
? The host presents and serves the wines.
? Be curious, taste and enjoy the lovely drops and the good company.
 
Get in the guessing game mode and learn fast
You should seriously consider blind tasting, when you have become a little more familiar with the concept of tasting wine. There is SO much to learn when tasting without knowing what is in the glass. This requires a certain degree of confidence and mutual comfort among the participants, though. It takes a bit courage to openly guess what is in the glass, because there will certainly be a lot of guessing that are way of the charts. A lot.

So, it is very important that you establish a good atmosphere where you can laugh at yourself and each other.

Examples of themes may be a grape variety (e.g. Chardonnay), a district (e.g. Barolo) or a type of wine (e.g. fortified wine). You may also be fortunate to try out several bottles from the same producer in different vintages. That is called a vertical tasting. A horizontal tasting is tasting the same vintage from several producers of one designated geographical area. Only your imagination sets the limits when determining a tasting theme.
 
How it is done
The host should make sure that the tasting takes place around a large table in a well-lit room without too many unnecessary fragrances disturbing elements such as scented candles, cooking smells and the likes.

The wine is best tasted from a good quality glass. The glasses should be clearly transparent without engravings or colours. A water glass available for each participant is advised. Plenty of water should always be available at the table. The water can be with and without bubbles, but preferably without lemon or other flavourings.
 
It is a very good idea to have a spittoon at the table. You can easily use a champagne cooler, a bowl or a carafe, if a real spittoon is not available.

These nifty bottle socks are great for hiding a bottle?s identity, so it is a little harder to guess the wine in the glass.
 
Be curious, taste and have fun. Remember, it is not a competition to taste wine. On the contrary, it is a team sport.

Get your wine buddies together and start exploring the world of wine.