How to Host the Best Wine Tasting Party Ever

Starting in the summer of 2009, I started hosting my own Wine Tasting Vail events. Originally, it was BYOB news where everyone brought the same Malbec $ 12 to someone’s house. After that, I tried to go to parties at the grocery store, but I always felt compelled to buy wine at the end of the taste. There were also great customer activities where I wandered from table to table pouring a little. But none of these flavors were more inspiring, or more fun.

So I started an invitation-only wine club called Noble Rot and began wrestling with my acquaintances in Manhattan and in the Brooklyn barracks. After several years, I had enough knowledge to compile a set of rules for making a successful wine party.

This article is my attempt to share what I have learned so that you too can host a great wine tasting party. Here comes the secrets.

Getting Started: What You Will Need

Good wine glasses are required. Wines are designed to attract aroma, texture, and flavor. Good wine glasses are designed to enhance those features. You will need a solid glass finish from Riedel, Zalto, or Scott Zwiesel. Or check out the all-purpose glass of Master of Wine Jancis Robinson, and Master Sommelier Andrea Robinson's The One - both made of red, white, rosé, and bubbly - and both are safe dishwashing machines!

Next, you will need a few of the best cork bags. Get Laguiole or one of these.

Selection and Purchase of Wine

This is the fun part, and choosing the theme is your best bet to make the evening a meet. You will probably have a list of international Chardonnays and producers from California, Oregon, Australia, and France Burgundy region. Or maybe you will be serving only red wine from the Rhône Valley. Alternatively, you can go glistening all night long - from California spread to France's Franciacorta and France Champagne. Just be warned: this can end up in the real bubble bash bubble real and uninstalled.

I strongly recommend that you be the only one buying wine at your party, rather than leaving it to your guests. If you are traveling this route, you should make it clear in your invitation that you will be selecting wines, and that there will be much you can do. You can always ask your guests for donations (instead of bottles) to help cover the cost. Or, bite the bullet and become an outstanding manager who pays for everything.

How much wine you can buy depends on how often you entertain guests. I found that adding five to seven wines to each group is a fair amount for small groups. Show that one bottle of wine serves well for five or six people with delicious pours. So, if you decide to put in five wines and catch 12 people, you will want at least two bottles of wine each. But it all comes down to the figures: There are 25 ounces in a standard 750ml bottle. If you want to give a taste of only two ounces, you will be able to serve 12 people in one bottle. If you want to donate six ounces of the same ounces as if you were in a restaurant, you will serve only four to five people per bottle. A good rule of thumb: have more wine than you think you need. Remains have never been a problem.