How to go about holding a wine tasting

[wondersofwine]

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.