A Splash from Your Nantucket Sommelier
Hosting Your First Wine Tasting
by Leslie-Ann Sheppard
owner of The Cellar on Surfside Road.
If the appearance of Labor Day lurking around the corner has given you a slight case of the blues—or if you celebrate the end of the busy season—here’s another reason to get some friends together, whether to commiserate or celebrate. Host your own wine tasting.
Believe it or not, there are lots of published guides for hosting your own wine tasting. Beautiful journals contain templates to organize your wine observations. There are also plentiful internet resources for ‘virtual wine tastings,’ where you can pick up a bottle of wine and participate in an on-line wine tasting with others who join in. And there is no shortage of ‘wine tasting software’ that can keep track of all of your tasting notes. These can be helpful, particularly for the timid or computer-savvy, but they are not necessary.
All you need to host a wine tasting are a few interested people, some wine, and a place to set up your tasting. Wine tasting is a way for common interests to come together, and it can be as casual or formal as you choose.
As a wine merchant and wine educator, I’ve hosted hundreds of wine tastings. These informal events are structured to introduce new wines to interested people. Some participants come to specific tastings for their focus; they want to learn more and taste something specific that is offered. Others attendees are ‘loyal tasters,’ joining tastings on a frequent basis. These clients seem to enjoy the social atmosphere that a tasting offers—as well as the refreshments—and may leave with a good dose of wine knowledge.
Here are basic guidelines for hosting a wine tasting:
- Write up a guest list of people who might be interested in attending. Some of your closest friends may not be wine drinkers, but maybe they just need to ‘break the ice.’ Remember, a wine tasting is basically a social gathering, with a focus.
- Decide on a theme for the tasting. Yes, focus is helpful when planning a wine tasting. Start with your own interests. For example, if you already know you like wines made from Cabernet Sauvignon, why not choose that varietal, and sample bottles from all different wine regions? Or, take an area that you don’t know much about—a specific region, for example. You can gather a sampling of wines from ‘Spain,’ or as specific as ‘Ribera del Duero.’
- Decide whether to supply the wine, or ask that guests bring their own. In the latter scenario, I suggest being as specific as possible as to the type of wine they should bring. Narrowing down region, vintage, grape types, producers, and price are all helpful. Also, if you have something very specific in mind, let your guests know where they can purchase the wine.
- Gather basic information about each wine so that guests can learn something if they have the interest. Basic information includes the name of the wine, the producer, the vintage, grapes used, and region of production.
Once the planning is complete, you can get ready for the actual tasting. Consider gathering all wine ahead of time, so that you have the option of opening the bottles early. This isn’t mandatory; what it will do is allow the wine to open up and breathe, releasing all of its bottled-up complexities. The down-side is that your guests won’t be able to see the difference between the wine with its first sip of oxygen to its last.
When the bottles have been opened and guests are present, let the tasting begin! Pour a small amount in each glass (1-2 ounces is a good start). Provide a ‘spit’ bucket for those who choose to strictly ‘taste’ and not ‘drink.’ Taste different bottles one at a time- with each guest simultaneously tasting the same wine. This will encourage conversation and observations about the wine.
Providing writing materials is a good idea, since guests may want to remember what they thought about a specific wine before moving to the next one. Get the conversation started: don’t worry about technical terms. Start with general impressions: what do you like or dislike about the wine?
Some hosts of wine tastings employ the ‘blind tasting’ variation. In this scenario, the host places each bottle of wine in its own brown bag, so that labels cannot be seen. Guests proceed with the tasting, making observations as they occur, but also placing a ranking on the wine. This mimics the popular critic system of awarding points to wine, which can be particularly interesting among the non-biased wine tasters. Assigning a value of ‘one star’ to ‘five stars’ is an example of how to accomplish this. Then you can compare your observations to those of published critiques, if they exist and there is interest to do so. This variation can also take the form of a contest as well; which wine ‘won’ the majority of votes for best wine?
Providing food is a good idea, too. You can keep it simple and offer a cheese or two with some crackers—good for cleansing the palate as well as for experiencing the change that occurs when you pair wine and cheese. Or, combine the wine tasting concept with a dinner party, with multiple glasses of wine in front of each guest to taste with different courses.
The most successful wine tastings start with an openness—to learn, to be social, to experience new sensations, and to have fun. Some of the longest-running wine tasting clubs started with a casual, beginner approach, and some have even turned into something slightly more sophisticated.
