How To Host A Wine Tasting Event At Home in 5 Steps

How to host a wine tasting event at home - in 5 easy steps! In this guide to hosting a wine tasting event at home I go through how to choose the wines, what equipment you will need, and what food to serve. Then, at the end, I include 3 wine tasting theme ideas to try with lists of the wines you will need.

Jump to:

• 🍷How To Host A Wine Tasting
• 1. How to Choose Wines For A Wine Tasting
• Top Tip
• 2. How much wine to buy for a wine tasting party
• Top Tip
• 3. Wine Tasting Equipment
• Top Tip
• 4. How to taste wines
• Top Tip
• 5. What Food To Serve At A Wine Tasting
• ⭐️ Example Wine Tastings ⭐️
• Wine Related Posts
• Party Recipes
• 💬 Comments

🍷How To Host A Wine Tasting

An at-home wine tasting is such a fun way for wine lovers to host guests. Hosting your own wine tasting party is a fun and interactive way to entertain at home, where guests will learn new things as well as have a great time. You could hold a short tasting before a dinner party, or create a whole evening exclusively around some special wines. Here are my tips to get you started.

1. How to Choose Wines For A Wine Tasting

Choose a theme for your wine tasting; for example, you could choose a particular region or country, a grape variety, a producer, or a vintage. Serve any sparkling wines and white wines first, then rose, then red, and then finish with dessert wines and any fortified wines like Port or Madeira.

1. Wine tasting by wine region - Hone things down to an AOC like Chablis or a region like Napa Valley, or take a whole country for a much broader range.
2. Wine tasting by grape - Comparing wines from a grape variety produced in different regions around the world can make a great wine tasting. For example, serve Sauvignon Blanc wines from Marlborough Valley in New Zealand vs. the Loire Valley in France and compare them.
3. Wine tasting by vintage - A vertical wine tasting is a wine tasting where you try the same wine from the same producer over a range of vintages. An example would be a tasting of Château Mouton Rothschild's Cabernet Sauvignon wine from 8 vintages in the 1990s. A horizontal tasting is wines from the same vintage, but different producers.
4. Wine tasting by producer - This can work well if there is a vineyard or producer you love and want to share your favorite wine with your guests.

2. How much wine to buy for a wine tasting party

Most wine tasting events have 6-8 wines; any more than this can confuse the palate. Serve small tasting measures of wine at wine tasting events. This avoids rendering guests incapable of forming an opinion by the time they get halfway through the list. A tasting measure is 60 ml or 2 ounces, which means you can serve 12 guests from each bottle of wine. So as an example, if you are hosting a wine tasting event for 12 guests and serving 8 different wines, you will need 8 bottles (one of each).

3. Wine Tasting Equipment

Before guests arrive, you will need some basic wine tasting equipment to set you up for success.

1. Wine glasses - Using the right glasses is important. Look for wine glasses with a stem that have enough room to allow guests to swirl the wine in the glass and appreciate the aromas. There are certain grape specific wine glasses, too, if you are tasting a particular variety. You can use separate glasses for each wine, but this can rack up a lot of glassware. Alternatively, use one glass per guest, but offer water to cleanse their palate and rinse them out in between each wine.
2. Jugs of water - It's important to allow guests to cleanse their palate in between wines, ready to take on the next one. It also helps reduce the amount of glasses needed, as the water will rinse out their glasses, too.
3. Ice buckets - Make sure you serve wine at the right temperature. Sparkling wine, rose wine, white wine, and dessert wine should all be served chilled. Some red wines, like Beaujolais, should also be slightly chilled.
4. Spittoons - You don't have to swallow wine to taste wine! Place several spittoons around for any guests who wish to use them without having to ask and feel awkward. They can be very simple jugs or even ice buckets. But make sure they are labeled as such so no one mistakes them.
5. Tasting sheets - Print wine tasting sheets for guests to note down their thoughts and opinions. Give guests a pen each as well.
6. White tablecloths - A plain white tablecloth on tables will help guests assess the color of each wine, as it gives a white background.

How To Make Tasting Sheets

Giving guests a tasting sheet gives them a way to break down each wine and makes it easier to form opinions. It's also a way to organize and record their thoughts to refer back to afterward. It doesn't have to be complex; just make sure it has fields for guests to note on the wine, appearance, nose, palate, and finish.

4. How to taste wines

If this is your first time hosting a wine tasting event at home, there might also be some guests coming who have never done a wine tasting before at all. Along with having a tasting sheet, it can help to talk through each step to form a more structured opinion.

1. Appearance - First, look at the color of the wine and make a note of it. White wines are classed as lemon-green, lemon, gold, or amber. Red wines are ruby, purple, garnet, or tawny. Rosé wines are pale pink, deep pink, or salmon.
2. Nose - Swill the wine in the glass and inhale the wine's aromas. Note them down. For example, you might smell fresh fruit or dried fruit, depending on the age of the wine. You might detect notes of vanilla if the wine has been oaked, or biscuity, toasty notes if it has been aged on the lees.
3. Palate - What is the flavor of the wine? Take a sip and swill wine around your mouth. Note down the mouthfeel; does it feel light or full-bodied? Run your tongue over your teeth to detect any tannins (red wines only). Higher levels of acidity will make your mouth water. Higher levels of alcohol will leave a burning sensation.
4. Finish - Does the taste of the wine linger or fall off quickly? What is your closing impression? More complex, quality wines will have a longer finish to them compared to simpler bottles. Remember to say whether or not you liked it in your tasting notes! Ask guests to rate each wine out of 10 so they can keep track of what characteristics they liked or disliked.

5. What Food To Serve At A Wine Tasting

Wine tasting parties on an empty stomach are not encouraged. The classic wine-tasting event food is plain crackers or wafers, as they make good palate cleansers. But I personally prefer to serve something a bit more elevated. Salty foods work well, like a charcuterie platter of sliced cured meats, or a cheese platter handed around with a basket of crackers and breadsticks.

Avoid foods with strong scents, overpowering flavors, foods with a lingering aftertaste, or foods that coat the mouth as they will interfere with the wine tasting.

⭐️ Example Wine Tastings ⭐️

Now comes the fun part; planning your tasting. Here are three simple wine tasting party ideas you could try if you want to host a wine-tasting event at home but don't know where to begin. Either take the list of wine selections to a wine shop or look online to buy a bottle of each wine and set your price point according to your preference.

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