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by Carlos Rabassa
Wine Tasting Party with 8 guests and 8 wines
So, you've invited a few of your friends for a group wine tasting. Let’s get organized:
The main goals should be to have fun and to learn something about which wines you would like to buy or make in the future.
Take a look at the chart we prepared for you (click here to view the chart).
It is a nice souvenir of the event for the participants to take home.
We suggest a group of 8 guests, each one bringing one bottle of wine, and tasting over the evening eight samples, totaling in volume, one bottle.
Each participant will receive one copy of the chart. The first column, “Wine Description” will be blank; this is a blind tasting for more fun and more accuracy.
As always, safety first. The organizer and assistant organizers could be the designated drivers or the hosts staying home after the tasting. At the very least, you may want to have the number of a local car service handy.
In addition to the charts given to each participant, the organizer should make one copy for each person of the first two columns only, with the description of each wine. These copies will be kept away from the participants until the proper time.
The wines should be opened and prepared in another room. Each one should be poured into a decanter with its number. You don’t need fancy decanters. The glass ones with metal covers that come with table wine (e.i. Paul Mason) are perfect for this purpose. The decanters have a double purpose, conceal the wine’s identity and allow for proper breathing so the wines are tasted at their best.
Ideally clean glasses should be available for each wine for each person. A couple of pitchers with water and buckets for each one to rinse the glass, should be a simpler and satisfactory solution.
The organizer should give brief explanations.
To observe color and clarity the tradition is to use a candle in a room with almost no other light. Small flashlights work pretty well although not that romantic and traditional. Raising the glass to whatever source of light is available also works.
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If the organizer has the proper technical background, the observation can be very technical. The color frequently is an indication of certain conditions. Example: A red wine that is more brown than red, usually saw better times one or more years ago. It is “past its prime”. But, to have fun and conclude which ones of the eight wines you want to buy in the future, all you have to answer is how much you like the color and clarity and the way the wine reflects the light. Rate each one of the three characteristics in the table using a 1 to 10 scale.
Aroma / Bouquet: Most people have heard the usual explanations. Swirl the glass to make sure all the interior wall of the glass is wet, increasing the air / wine interface area and thus making it easy to appreciate the aroma. Again, ideally the glasses should be such that allows the nose to take in air directly from the glass while you drink. But, small plastic cups will do if that’s all you have.
Taste and after tast: Here participants should balance tasting perfection with good manners. If you move the wine around your mouth to make sure all the interior surface of the mouth is coated with wine, it will be easier to feel the taste. To get a clear idea of the after taste the best is to swallow the wine, keep the mouth shut and breathe through the nose.
After rating each characteristic, give the wine an overall rating. This should basically mean how much or how little would you like to have this wine again in the future.
There are two columns for the overall rating; please write the same number twice, once in each column. We will shortly explain the purpose of this duplication.
Put your name in the page, the discussions following the tasting could be interesting but a bit heated and you want to remember your findings at least until having a chance to visit a store and get some of the good wines.
At this point cut out the two right most columns containing the wine number and the overall rating, and pass it to the organizer.
Once the results have been collected, the organizer will pass around copies of the first two columns containing the number and the full description of each wine. It would be good to have a couple of dispensers of double stick scotch tape, so the columns with the descriptions may be pasted over the blank columns on the charts. The discovery of which wine was which will create a nice discussion allowing the organizer time to tabulate the results and come back and announce the winners.
Cleansing your palate: Cheese and crackers? In our opinion the best way of cleansing your palate is plain old water; plenty of it. This is not quite practical however if you want the participants to show good manners. Many of the wineries we have visited have spitting buckets to throw leftovers from samples and rinsing water.
Cheese and crackers are also quite traditional. Be very careful with the selection however, since they may overpower the wines and confuse the tastes. The least tasty the better for any food you use to cleanse the palate.
And, once again, the purpose of this is to have fun and learn a bit more about wine, not to get drunk. If you feel even slightly light headed, you should secure a safe means to get home, or consider the couch.
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Here are some HBA Wine favorites: |
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| Who is Carlos Rabassa? |
e-mail: Carlos
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- Real Estate Broker in Queens County, New York City
- Home Wine Maker
- Wine Lover for 50+ years
- Electromechanical Engineer, ME
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