How to go about holding a wine tasting

[fangi]

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