This particular party is helpful for practicing the art of pairing wines with food. It is fun and appropriate for beginners and experts.
Tips:
- If you plan to pour different types of wine, begin with light white wines and move toward the heartier ones in order to preserve your palate.
Steps:
- Choose two to five simple foods. Suggestions are different types of cheese, cold shrimp, chicken skewers, pate and olives. Try to have a balance between salty foods, rich foods, delicate foods and so on.
- Prepare a list of wines that are good matches, average matches and poor matches for each of the foods you have selected.
- Have everybody attending the tasting bring a bottle of wine from the list.
- Set up three glasses for each taster. Be sure to have good lighting and a white tablecloth.
- Pour the good, average and poor matching wines that correspond to one of the food items.
- Begin with a “starter taste” of wine individually, before tasting with the food. Encourage group discussions.
- Serve the appropriate food item.
- Now, taste the poorly matching wine.
- Sample the food with the average-matching wine.
- Finally, sample the food with the good-matching wine.
- Discuss your opinions.
- Rinse the glasses with water and move on to the next food item and matching wines. You might cleanse your palates with dry crackers in between.
Warnings:
If any guests have had too much to drink, arrange alternate rides home or invite them to stay over.