Summer is in my rear-view window and I’m looking forward to cozy autumn. Not only am I excited for football, Halloween and cooler temperatures, I am excited to host my first wine tasting party.
I was thumbing through one of my many magazines and there was an article about hosting a wine tasting get- together. Seems like a grand idea to me. Luckily, there is one Saturday where my football teams coincidentally have a bye week.
An open Saturday night? I’m going to host a wine tasting party!
With much thought, I decided that I wanted to host a blind Cabernet Sauvignion wine tasting. Blind meaning that the bottles are covered so you don’t see the label and thus do not know what kind of wine you are drinking.
I did some research online and found out that inviting a small group of people works best. I also printed off some wine score cards, so that my guests can make notes and rate each tasting.
I invited 7 couples and asked that each couple bring a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon priced around $50.00, because life too short to drink cheap wine!
I supplied a bottle of Silver Oak because it is one of our groups favorite Cabernet Sauvignons. Additionally I made all of the food making sure that it paired with Cabernet Sauvignon.
It is important to serve food that tastes great with the wine. I did my research and decided that I would make:
- Charcuterie platter with strong tasting cheeses, sliced salamis and crackers with dried fruit and nuts.
- Spring mix of greens with dried cranberries, bleu cheese crumbles and candied pecans
- Mario Batali’s Mushroom/Onion Pasta Bake
- Roasted bone marrow and toast
- Italian beef/ricotta sliders with melted fontina cheese
- Mesquite- grilled rack of lamb
- Ghirardelli chocolate brownies, Nestle Toll House cookies and an array of Belgium Chocolates. Dark chocolate covered pretzels and Dark Chocolate Cowboy Bark rounded out my desserts
These foods all paired exceptionally well with the Cabernet Sauvignon.
I displayed all of the food on platters like appetizers and put it out on the table all at one time. That way my guests can help themselves and so I did not have to be in the kitchen cooking and serving. Small plates and napkins were provided so everybody could help themselves to the food while tasting the delicious wine. I wanted the tasting to be casual and not stuffy.
I set up my food and tasting on my dining room table. The decorations were autumn colors with leaves and hand painted pumpkins. My candles were unscented since it is important to be able to smell your wine while tasting. I bought battery operated mini fairy lights that I interspersed with my autumn decorations to enhance the pretty ambience. Another important factor is to make sure you have plenty of drinking water.
As my guest arrived there wines were uncorked and put into a linen drawstring bag that was labeled “A” through “G”. While we were setting up the tasting my husband served champagne cocktails to each of the guest. That was a great drink to start off the night.
Once the wine tasting began each of my guest was given their own wine glass with their initial and wine tag with their name on it. They also received a score sheet, where they rated each wine and made comments.
After everyone tasted and scored each bottle of wine, the score cards were tallied up and the winner of the evening was a California Cabernet Sauvignon, a 2013 bottle from Pine Ridge Winery.
My good friend Brian who was in attendance at the tasting knows a lot more about wine than I do. Check out his blog www.valuesuncorked.com for all of the details about the wine that was served at the tasting
It was my first time hosting a wine tasting party and from all the feedback from my guests, it won’t be the last. I’m thinking… maybe a Chardonnay tasting!
