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Have a Middle Sister Wine Tasting Party in 4 Easty Steps!
Step 1: Make A Guest List
Invite all kinds of people: From novices to wine geeks. As long as everyone likes wine, you'll totally have a hoot. I recommend parties of 6 to 10 people. Plan for about 2 to 3 hours for the tasting.
Step 2: Shopping
Wine
You will need at least 4-6 bottles of Middle Sister wines. I recommend:
Middle Sister Forever Cool Merlot
Middle Sister Rebel Red Red Blend
Middle Sister Mischief Maker Cabernet Sauvignon
Middle Sister Drama Queen Pinot Grigio
Middle Sister Smarty Pants Chardonnay
And have a couple of bottles of Middle Sister Wicked White “starter” wines to offer guests as they straggle in.
Party Goods Wine glasses: One to four glasses/person.
Dump buckets: You can use a flower vase, pitcher or champagne bucket. This is to dump unused wines from your glasses.
Water pitcher and glasses: To clean the palate between sips (la-di-dah).
Spit cups: Yes – it sounds gross; but keeps your mouth fresh and yourself sober.
Napkins
Food
Keep it simple or be more creative:
A) Simple: Shop for cheeses, breads, crackers, deli meats, paté, veggies, nuts and dried fruits.
OR…
B) Match foods with the flavors and aromas found in the wines. Cut bite size pieces of different foods and place in glasses or ramekins on the tasting table. As guests smell and taste each wine, ask them to smell and/or taste the flavor and aroma food samples next to each wine. For example:
Middle Sister Wicked White White Blend:melon, pear, tangerine, rose petals, lemon zest.
Middle Sister Drama Queen Pinot Grigio: apple and pear, lemon zest
“Blind” the wines (winespeak for “cover the labels”). Download and print out this PDF for snarky Middle Sister Bottle Wrappers! I recommend placing the bottles in the order below, from lightest bodied to heaviest bodied.
Helpful Hint: Open red wines about one hour before guests arrive.
Set Out…
Wine Glasses: One glass per person is enough, but four for each person is even better.
Tasting Mats: to take notes and keep track of each wine and your thoughts about each one. Download here.
Aroma Card: to help you and your guests learn to describe wine in ways that are meaningful and memorable to you. It's a good reminder to pay attention to everything you taste. Download here.
Spit Cups: to spit the mouthful of wine you’ve just tasted.
Dump bucket(s): to dump unused wine from your glass after tasting.
Water glasses: to keep your palate refreshed between tastings.
Napkins: we all know what napkins are for!
Pencils: to fill out the Tasting Mats.
Foods and/or snacks.
You can set up your wine tasting around a dining table, a large kitchen island or just a coffee table in your livingroom…whatever is the most comfortable depending on the size of your party and the food you’re serving. Just make sure there’s enough room for each person to have an entire place setting.
Step 4: Party Time
As guests arrive:
Remember those “starter wines” we talked about earlier – Middle Sister Wicked White - now’s the time to pull them from the refrigerator.
Forgot to chill them? No worries – just pop them in an ice bucket filled with ice, water and a tablespoon of Kosher salt for about 5 or 10 minutes.
Pour small amounts of the starter wine (about 1 ounce). If people get inebriated, they’ll miss out on all the fun of tasting several wines. Later when everyone has tasted all of the wines, they can enjoy a full glass or two of their favorite.
Once everyone has arrived, let the tasting begin.
Explain the uses for the dump bucket and spit cups.
Pour a small amount (about 2 oz.) of the first wine into each guest’s glass.
Start a discussion about each tasting from the list below:
Conversation Starters:
• Which fruit does each wine remind you of?
• Which has the best nose (aroma)?
• Which has the most tannins (that tea-like puckery taste of the wine)?
• Which has the fullest body (the mouth-feel or heaviness of the wine)?
• Which has the longest finish (that lingering sensation after you’re done drinking the wine)?
• Talk with your guests about which foods they’d like to pair with the wines (note: there are no correct answers here, only opinions.)
Use the Tasting Mats to write notes about each wine.
After everyone has tasted all of the wines and talked about each one, you can now strip off the wrappers and reveal the sisters!
I hope this was useful. Leave me comments and let me know how your party was.
