If you love drinking wine, hosting a wine-tasting party at home may be a great way to entertain guests while spicing up your taste buds. But, before you light up the notch, you must prepare something and stocking all the necessary items will save you a lot of time and budget. If this is your first time organizing, here are some tips to follow to make it a stress-free and enjoyable experience.
Shop from Reputable Online Stores
First things first, you should get a fine selection of wine. When narrowing down your choices it's good to know that online wine sales are growing at a fast rate. Therefore, shop online from a reputable Australian wine store that offers a vast selection of outstanding quality wines. It makes it easy to find your favourite variety or experiment with new tastes as well.
The reason why more and more people choose to shop their favourite variety online over any other option is because it’s easy to search and order. Good wine stores make it easy to search by variety, country, sub-region, or just general red or white wines. The home page is easy to navigate with categories like new arrivals, top picks, and best sellers highlighted.
In terms of delivery, you should pick a wine store that uses the safest delivery possible. The specialized wine delivery network at Australia Post is one of them. The delivery process can take 3-4 business days, but it could take up to 10, depending on the general demand on the delivery network at the time, your distance from main centres, and product availability.
Australia Post requires a signature on delivery for security reasons. If you opt to have the items delivered to your home or business and are not there when the delivery is attempted, a card will be left in your letterbox, and your parcel will be securely stored at your local post office for collection. Your shipment will be kept at the post office for no more than 10 business days.
And, of course, a good online wine store, should have impeccable customer service, the so-called wine nerds that will help you get the right pack if you are hesitating and don't know what the best option for your little party will be.
Pick a Theme
It's acceptable to do a fully random wine tasting using whatever wines you can get your hands on. However, having a clear vision will bring more focus to your wine-tasting party and allow you to draw more direct comparisons. Choose your favourite wine variety and learn what it tastes like in other areas. For example, you may compare Pinot Noirs from France, California, and New Zealand. Or Merlot from France, Italy, Chile, and Australia.
Another option is a regional wine tasting, which entails sampling wines from a specific wine region. For example, hosting a Prosecco wine tasting including several wines from northern Italy's Prosecco area. You will be amazed at how much variety there is in its quality and taste.
Furthermore, choose a wine you appreciate and look for it in several vintages. It may be more difficult and expensive to find wines for this style of wine tasting. But it's fascinating to examine how a wine's vintage affects its flavour.
Make a Wine Tasting Supplies Checklist
Not everyone has a wine-tasting kit on hand at all times, however, it would be lovely to have one! So, make sure you're prepared for your wine-tasting party by gathering all of the necessities. In this regard, you should have the appropriate wine glasses for the wines you're tasting. You'll need at least one wine glass per person, but if you have enough for two or three, that's even better. It is beneficial to taste the wines concurrently. If you're performing a complete 6-wine tasting and don't have enough glasses for each visitor (who does?), there's no need to rinse the glasses between wines.
However, some people prefer to spit or throw any leftover wine into a bucket during wine tastings. It does not have to be a specific spittoon, but something opaque with high sides is preferable (no one wants to see the combined wine dregs). A Champagne bucket works wonderfully, of course, if you can convince yourself to use it as a spit bucket.
Provide some basic crackers or light bread for guests to cleanse their palates in between wines. Glasses of water should also be supplied to cleanse the palette. Depending on the types of wine you're tasting, be sure you have the right tools for opening and pouring it. The must-haves include a decanter, carafe, corkscrew, and chiller.
Pair It with the Right Food
During the initial taste of each wine, stick to palate cleansers like bland crackers and toast. You don't want powerful tastes to overshadow the wine's tasting notes. Then, to impress your guests and add another element to your tasting, pair your wines with food.
Do your meal pairing study ahead of time to determine which dishes and tastes complement the wines you've selected. Italian cheeses such as Parmesan, cured meats, crackers, and almonds are snacks that go nicely with a variety of wines. Or get a little more creative by preparing your own paired appetizers.
