Wine Tasting Party

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

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. 

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

Middle Sister Smarty Pants Chardonnay: lemon, pear and honey.

Middle Sister Forever Cool Merlot: summer berries, vanilla, cocoa powder.

Middle Sister Rebel Red Red Blend: plum, blueberry, blackberry, black and white pepper, crème de cassis.

Middle Sister Mischief Maker Cabernet Sauvignon: plums, berry jam, dried herbs, cocoa.

Step 3: Setting Up

 “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.

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.