How to Organize a Home Wine Tasting

A home wine tasting is a flexible event type. It can be held as an alternative to regular parties, or you can start with a tasting and then just drink and socialize. Tasting (especially ‘blind’ – when you taste wine without knowing what kind of wine you have in your glass) allows you to diversify your leisure time, play a little, and have a good time.

You don’t have to have an in-depth understanding of wine to have a home tasting, basic knowledge is enough. But it is important that the topic is interesting not only to the person organizing the party but also to his friends. If people are interested in wine, hosting a home tasting will be more interesting than just sitting around, chatting, and drinking.

Preparing
The optimal number of participants for a tasting is 5 to 10 people. Plan in advance where the tasting will take place, and prepare the venue. If the weather permits, an outdoor tasting is a great option. But don’t forget that the wine needs to be kept in the shade as well as the tasting. Put a large tent and don’t forget about comfortable furniture to create the best possible atmosphere. We advise you to pay attention to rattan furniture to give the impression of a wine siesta in Italy. The best outdoor furniture in Dubai can come in handy for this purpose.

You need a minimum of three different bottles of wine, less makes no sense. A good option is if you agree in advance with friends that each will bring one bottle to the tasting. The wines should be about the same age and in the same price range.

For a ‘blind’ tasting, bottles should be wrapped in foil or wrapped in paper bags so that no one sees the label and doesn’t know in advance what they are tasting. Samples should also be numbered so they don’t get confused.

Which wine to choose
It is better not to mix red and white wines in one tasting, as it is more difficult to sort out the taste. One suggestion is you use sparkling wines.

For a simple ‘blind’ tasting, it’s best to choose wines that are different from each other, for example you can compare Champagne and Prosecco to other sparkling wines and enjoy the bubbles. If you’re gathering people who know a lot about wine, you can make it harder for them and offer similar wines for comparison, such as a vintage Champagne or traditional method sparkling wines from different countries.

Another option is to move away from the ‘blind’ tasting and simply taste several wines from the same grape variety from different producers in an evening, such as comparing well known Champagnes with grower Champagnes. Or compare wines from the same country or region — for example, try different sparkling wines from Italy regions with Prosecco, Franciacorta and TrentoDoc.

The tasting portion should be very small — 50-70 ml. This is just to make sure that you don’t get too drunk by the end of the tasting. For the same, you need an appetizer, but the simplest, which will not interrupt the taste of the wine: bread and cheese — without the noble mold and not very salty. Spicy, salty, or tangy food strongly affects the taste of the wine and changes its perception.

Risks
• The tasting experience can be blurred by not knowing a few important things. Firstly, it’s a good idea to drink a glass of water after each wine and rinse it so the flavors don’t mix.

• The second important point is that all the glasses must be the same shape. The shape of the glass greatly affects the aroma, so if everyone drinks from different glasses, then everyone’s impression of the wine will be different.

• Thirdly, the wine should be of the right temperature. Sparkling wines are best served between 8-12°C

Conclusion
I’m sure the idea of entertaining everyone with a tasting will satisfy everyone’s needs. Just do not take everything too seriously, make it fun. Meeting like this more often, because it’s all about the quantity turning into quality and it’s all about gaining a deeper understanding of wine.