Fun Wine Tasting Party Ideas

In this section, you'll find some great wine tasting party ideas, tips on how to throw a tasting party and ideas for your invitations. I've thrown a number of these and have some great ideas to help you get started.

The first thing you'll want to think about before you throw the party is how you'll select or organize the wines for the party. I like to think about it as the theme.

wine tasting party
Sampling four wines from Chile

Wine Tasting Party Ideas, Themes

Here are some wine tasting party ideas organized by different themes:

By Type of Red: This is my favorite type of tasting party. It is centered around one specific type of red such as all Pinot Noir or all Syrah. This allows you to focus on one type and sets the tasting expectations for the guests. Learn more about the different types of red before selecting one.

By Region: Another fun way to set up it up is to center it around a specific region. You can select a region that everyone is familiar with or one that you want to learn more about.

By Price Point: If you are searching for some new, every day wines, throw an event that focuses on high quality wines at a lower price point. For example, all wines for the party could be under $10 or under $20. This is one of the wine tasting party ideas that is a favorite of many of my guests.

Wine and Food Pairing Party: Another way to structure yours is to have a wine and food pairing party. You can select specific wines that work well with a variety of different cheese or chocolates and have your guests decide which wines work the best with the cheese or chocolate selected.

Setting a Budget

I also have a few wine tasting party ideas around setting your budget. This will set the stage for the types of wines you'll select and also the number of people you'll want to invite.

I'd recommend having around 4 to 5 different wines for your guests to taste. For each different one, you'll want to have at least one bottle for every 6 or 7 guests. Remember, it's a tasting, not a drinking party so you can cover more guests with one bottle.

This gives you enough for each person to have a good sized tasting for each of the different wines. It also leaves a little left over for those that really enjoy it and want to taste a little more.

If you select one of wine tasting party ideas that is not oriented around a price point, then I'd recommend having a variety of different price points for your wines. It's always interesting to see how your guests like the cheaper wines compared to those that are more expensive.

Another one of my wine tasting ideas is to have fewer bottles of the most expensive wines. I pour a little less for each guest in order to make sure there is enough to go around. This will help with your overall budget.

Setting Up the Tasting

Another one of the wine tasting party ideas I like to use is to taste the wines blind. I'd recommend this only for the parties with a smaller number of people. It is a little harder when you have more than 10 to 12 people at your party to set it up as a blind tasting.

However, the great thing about making it a blind tasting is that it evens out the playing field for the wines. Guests won't know which ones are the cheaper ones and which are more expensive, so they will enjoy the wine based on the taste and not the price tag!

Here are some of my wine tasting party ideas to help you set up a blind tasting:

Cover each bottle with a paper bag. You'll want to cover or hide the extra bottles so that your guests don't know which is which.

Add a number to each bottle. You'll want to make sure to write a number key and hide it, so you can remember which bottle corresponds with each number at the end of the night.

Pour just a little bit for each guest to try. Have each guest rate each one by number on their own secret piece of paper. Ask them to also write down what they liked and didn't like about each one. This will ensure they leave with a list of wines they really enjoyed.

Your guests can taste them in any order. Once each guest has tasted each wine, you can uncover the bottles and talk a little about each one. I like to have the price point and where I bought each wine so they guests have the information they need about each one if they want to buy it later.

Since you should have some left over, each guest can then enjoy a little more of the wine they really liked during the blind tasting.

Another one of my wine tasting ideas is to keep them uncovered. You can then ask each guest to rate each one on a public sheet as they try it. To set this up:

Place two or three of each of the different types of wines on the table, right next to each other. I'll set them up either from cheapest to most expensive or from lightest to heaviest in body. This will depend on the theme you select from above.

Open up at least two bottles from the first two to three different types. This ensures that the guests don't just jump ahead to the premium or heaviest wines right away. Continue to open up the additional types of wines until you reach the last bottle of new wine.

Ask each guest to add their name, a few comments and a rating to the public sheet for each wine. This gives other guests a chance to taste and discuss each wine as they try them. Sometimes guests will also skip past wines if they already know they aren't a fan of a specific type or varietal of wine.

Both of these organization structures will get your guests talking about the wines. They will share their thoughts and mingle quite a bit as they taste the wine.

Enhance your party with these great wine tasting party kits. Choose from the selection of pre-printed rating sheets and charms. If you are hosting a blind tasting, some of these also include the bags to cover the wines. All of these are a fun addition to your party -- all you have to do is add the wine!

Food Pairing

If it's in your budget, you'll want to think about some food for the party. No matter which theme you select, you'll want to make sure you have some food that allows your guests to clear their palette between tastes such as plain bread or crackers.

One of the reasons I really like to throw wine parties based on type of wine is that it's much easier to find food that pairs with that type of red wine. You can also ensure you don't have anything that clashes with the wine which might make it taste completely different than it really tastes.

Check out these types of red wines pages to get some wine tasting ideas on food pairings for your party:

Cabernet Sauvignon

Merlot

Pinot Noir

Wine Tasting Party Invitation

Another one of the wine tasting party ideas is to have a fun wine tasting party invitation. Have your invitations center around your wine tasting them. You can also ask your guests to participate by having them bring something (either wine or food). Here are some fun wine tasting party invitations.

If you are on a tight budget, then I'd recommend going with an electronic invitation through Evite or even Facebook. This will allow you to spend more of your budget on the party. It also allows you to send follow up reminders and quickly see who is bringing what to the party.

Overall, there are a number of fun wine tasting party ideas to try. As you try different themes, you'll find out which one works the best for your friends and you. Have fun with the party since the overall goal is to try some new wines that you might enjoy drinking again in the future.

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