A Guide to Hosting Your Own At-Home Wine Tasting

Setting up your guests to meet at a vineyard can be tiring, even more so if you don’t like the wine your local vineyard serves. However, if you love to host and you love wine, look no further. This guide to hosting your own at-home wine tasting will demystify wine tasting and help you look like the ultimate wine connoisseur.

Wine Selection

Your wine selection should stick with whatever theme you go with, whether it be French, Spanish, or Italian wine. This article will stick to an Italian theme and Italian wines.

Your selection should include four white wines and four red ones. Each type should have different notes and combinations. For example, if you have an earthier woody wine, you’ll also want something sweet and fruity. Also, keep in mind that you don’t want all your wines to be too dry or astringent.

How To Taste

When tasting a wine, you don’t have to swish it around the glass or your mouth; that’s a sommelier’s job. Your job is to enjoy. Make sure you have a clear palette to taste the notes, and keep the wine on your tongue for a few moments to note the taste.

Italian wines have different tastes and aromas. For example, Lugana has elderflower, guava, and peach notes, while Barbaresco has a deep black plum and nutmeg flavor. After each wine, discuss what you taste and take note of its region and age.

If you’re doing a blind tasting, it would be best to take note of everyone’s opinions and reveal them at the end. You and your guests will learn more about the wine this way.

What To Serve

It’s critical to serve the appropriate appetizers with the wine. This helps cleanse the palette, absorb the alcohol, and prevent people from becoming too intoxicated.

Baguette slices and plain crackers are an easy alternative, but here’s what to serve when sticking with an Italian theme.

Prosciutto-wrapped grilled figs are excellent appetizers since their sweetness and saltiness cut through any taste of alcohol. Porchetta is another meaty and salty alternative you can pair with provolone or fontina cheese. Either way, make sure not to serve anything fruity, as this will ruin the wine tasting.

Having a guide to hosting your own at-home wine tasting is only the beginning. The fun begins when you start tasting. The best tip is to choose a variety of deliciousness. You can never go wrong with something that tastes good.