wine tasting order

[foxy]

hi, i have had a look through many websites and the forums on this site, and i am still confused as to the order of wine tastings. i am hosting a party and have the following styles of wine. i have put them in order to what i think is correct

riesling
white blend - sauvignon blanc/semillon
Shiraz
red blend (classic red)
cabernet merlot
cabernet sauvignon
sparkling white
sparkling red (shiraz style sparkling)
dessert wine/late harvest

if anyone could correct me, that would be greatly appreciated

[winoweenie]

I personally prefer to start with the sparkling wines and then go to the still wines. Also depending on the strength of the Shiraz I mite put it between the cab/merlot and cab. Have fun. WW

[brappy]

sparkling white
riesling
white blend - sauvignon blanc/semillon
cabernet merlot
red blend (classic red)
cabernet sauvignon
Shiraz
sparkling red (shiraz style sparkling)
dessert wine/late harvest

Of course, this really does depend on the producer.

[Innkeeper]

Hi Foxy, and welcome to the Wine Board. Good advice above, and you were off to a great start.

We usually leave the sparklers out of tastings, have them all bubble. Depending of the size of your group we keep the tasting down to six (with duplicate bottles for the larger group); three whites, and three reds. Start with whites like you did going from light to full, and then repeat with reds.

[wondersofwine]

One word of caution. If the Riesling is a dry riesling, keep it near the start. If it is a sweet Riesling (such as a German Spatlese or Auslese) it should be served just before the dessert wine/late harvest. The residual sugar in a sweet wine throws off the taste buds for later wines.
Have fun with the tasting and report back to the forum on how it went and which wines were most popular (along with brand names if you care to list them).

[This message has been edited by wondersofwine (edited 07-23-2007).]