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+--- Thread: How to go about holding a wine tasting (/thread-18957.html)
- JoJoey - 01-24-2002
I am in the process of helping to plan a wedding shower. One of the ideas we came up with is to hold a wine tasting. A good idea right? Except, none of us planning the thing know anything about wine...except that we and the bride like to drink it.
So I turn the questions to you:
What does one actually do at a wine tasting?
Are there places (wine cellars, vinyards, etc.) that can help plan one?
Are there there any books, websites, etc. I can read to find out more about what to do and how to plan one?
Is this more trouble that it's worth?
Any and all advice is more than welcome!
[This message has been edited by JoJoey (edited 01-24-2002).]
[This message has been edited by JoJoey (edited 01-24-2002).]
- wondersofwine - 01-25-2002
There are so many different ways to go about it. Two books that might be helpful are The Wine Tasting Class, with Wine Tasting Class Notebook by Judy Ridgway and Francis Ford Coppola and How To Taste by Jancis Robinson. I have not used either book but they sound helpful in the amazon.com descriptions.
I have put on wine tastings as an auction feature for my church. I soon learned that some of the participants prefer sweeter, fruitier wines so have tried to meet that preference with blush wines, German ausleses and fruity zinfandels. However, if I do a tasting for the auction again this year I think I will concentrate on the chardonnay, gamay, and pinot noir grapes with examples of unoaked French chardonnays vs. Cote d'Or chardonnays, Beaujolais-Village vs. Beaujolais Cru, village red burgundy vs. premier cru burgundy. Perhaps we will have an Oregon pinot noir and a California or Washington state Chardonnay as well. Concentrating on one or two grape varieties can be educational. Or you can present only California wines (of different varieties) or only Australian and New Zealand wines or compare New World and Old World (France, Italy, Germany, Spain) wines made from the same grape variety (sangiovese, pinot grigio,
merlot, cabernet sauvignon, etc.). You can also present wines from only one winery--either different vintages (years) or different varieties. I usually have the participants rate the wines and take home notes so they can look for the ones they liked or at least that grape variety. However, you can be less formal and not do any note taking or rating. To my own surprise last time, I gave the highest rating to a Valpolicella from Italy, not to the French red for which I had high expectations.
- wondersofwine - 01-25-2002
Something I should have added. I use tiny 1-2 oz. tasting glasses most of the evening, and offer a larger German-type wine glass for the last wine presented. That keeps the wine consumption down and lets them go back to retry their favorite wine of the evening in a larger pour at the end. Also, I always serve appetizers with the wines. I may have two types of hors d'oeuvres with the white wines, another two types with the red wines, and a dessert (such as apple cake or obsttorte) with the dessert wine. It's best not to drink on an empty stomach and also that helps demonstrate what wines go best with what foods.
- fangi - 01-28-2002
hi there,
i just held my first wine tasting last week. i decided the theme would be chardonnay, and chose a bunch from the US and burgundy (chablis too)to serve. Some were oaked and others were unoaked. It was an interesting choice.
But you could literally make anything be the theme. You could choose a few different regions and buy the many different grape varieties made in that region. For example: Piedmont, Italy:dolcetto, nebbiolo, barbera etc..(I think those are right) or Oregon: pinot gris, riesling etc..
Or like wondersofwine said, you could chose wines that are dry, medium dry, sweet, medium sweet and very sweet and compare/contrast these two aspects (dryness/sweetness) of wine.
I have read Jancis Robinson's book on how to taste wine, (i've only seen the hardcover version which retails for 25 bucks, but try half.com if want to get it cheaper.) Her book will add a lot of depth to your tasting without complicating things too much. She's witty, one of a very minute group of folks who have qualified for the title "master of wine", she's well-known for making wine accessible for folks who are just starting out, and to top it off she's NOT pretentious!
(no, i'm not a fan at all. hee hee)
I would definitely agree with wondersofwine, that you should hand out pens and paper so folks can write down their impressions of the wines. long finish/short finish, sweet/dry, tannic, acidic etc...(Jancis also provides the terms for describing wine in her book)
Note-taking may be a bit formal, but in blind tasting especially they can be useful. The folks (all novices) at my house had sooo much fun writing their impressions and guessing where the wines were from. Most folks took their notes with them for future reference.
ps. if you pick a theme, there are so many nice, smart people on this site that could help you choose some specific wines for your tasting, as they did for mine.
cheers,
good luck,
brett fangi
- Innkeeper - 01-28-2002
A lot depends on the sophistication of the participants palates. If it is varied or even low, you might not get much from tasting similar wines such as all from one region. For a cross section of palates, I like to go with six wines, three white and three red. Multiple bottles of each depending on the size of the crowd. The whites should be one dry, one off dry, and one sweet. The reds should be one light bodied, one medium, and one full. You should have bite size foods available to go with each wine, as well as hunks of plain bread for palate cleansing.
Here are some suggestions. For the whites: A New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, a German Riesling Kabinett (preferably from Rheingau), and a California Muscat. For the reds: An Italian Bardolino (preferably other than Bolla), a Julienas from Beaujolais (1999 or 2000), and an approachable petite sirah such as Parducci from California or Warrabilla from Australia. There are thousands of other combinations, but hopefully this gives you the idea. The goal is to expose participants with a broad cross section of the world's wines.