Hosting a Wine Tasting

[i_love_wine]

I will be hosting a wine tasting in my home in November, but I don't know if I am suppose to serve different wines from the same region or if I can mix and match them from different countries? I also don't know how many to put out to sample. Could someone please help me?

[Innkeeper]

Welcome to Wine Board I_love_wine. Three whites and three reds are norm for a tasting. Tasted white to red and light to full for both. The six bottles will give fifteen to twenty a good taste of each.

Let us know what country/region you are interested in.

[Kcwhippet]

You can do whatever strikes your fancy. You can get the same wine, such as a Syrah/Shiraz from France, Australia, South Africa and the US and taste how different clones of the same grape, different climates and different winemaking techniques affect the wines. You can get the same wine, like Sauvignon Blanc, from different areas of the same place, like California, and taste how different microclimates change the flavor profile. You can get a series of different wines from the same place and just taste. You can get the same wine from the same winery but from a number of different vintages to see how weather affects the wine from year to year. Lots of ways to structure a tasting. A standard 750 ml bottle of wine is about 25 ounces, and with a normal tasting pour of 1 1/2 ounces you'll get about 15 pours from each bottle. You'll also need to have some snacks (bread, crackers, cheeses, etc.), some water to clear palates and to rinse glasses, as well as some spit buckets. You might also want to make up a tasting sheet with the names and vintages of the wines with space for people to take notes - and score the wines, if you want to go that far.

[i_love_wine]

Would you include sparkling and dessert wines also to the tasting and if so, what types of foods/desserts would you serve with them? Thank you all for your help!

[Innkeeper]

As KC pointed out, there are no ironclad rules. I would not include sparklers or dessert wines as it makes things a little too complicated; but it is up to you.

Keep the foods bland. The main purpose is to act as palate cleaners. Baguettes torn in pieces, unsalted crackers, mild cheeses, etc.

[wondersofwine]

I have served a somewhat sweet German Riesling (Spatlese or Auslese level) as the final wine of a tasting along with a German obsttorte (mixed fruits such as strawberries and kiwifruit in a large round tart with glaze.) I bought the obsttorte from a German baker rather than making it myself.
I also offered an Orange Blossom Muscat from Quady (California wine) once as a dessert wine. It is rather high in alcohol as I recall and so a little risky after tasting a number of wines. As IK said, the normal order is whites, then reds, lighter in body to fuller, but the exception is any sweeter wine at the end as the sugar distorts the taste of wines that follow.

[dananne]

If you did decide to go the Quady Muscat route, there are two -- Essencia is (I believe) the one Wonders was talking about -- it comes in at 15% alc. The lighter one, called Electra, is only 4% alc. It's light and vibrant and may be a less risky choice following a tasting. Would go very well with the tort that she suggested, but may also be nice with something like balaclava.