Article 3 Wine Party with a Flair

At home wine tasting party.

I came up with the idea to have a party and introduce everyone to a new twist on wine tasting. Some of us had been on Temecula-wine-tours. Some had been to Napa. Without a doubt, we all love wine.

I invited over fifteen couples, asking each of them to bring their favorite two bottles of wine, a tasting glass, an hors d’ oeuvre and a picture of themselves from twenty years ago….

I had two tasting bars set up, similar to what they have at the wineries.   I hired two pourers, so that we could all enjoy the event together.

I had copied down some pertinent questions about the wine, so that the tasters could take notes and answer questions about the wine they tasted.

I provided water and hauled out my ice buckets. As the guests arrived, I had the servers place the wine in the ice buckets to chill.

The highlight of the evening: I had a vintner, who grows grapes, and produces a small amount of wine annually, whom I invited to the event. He and his wife had a wealth of information on how to properly understand the art of wine tasting and appreciation. It just so happens that I have a friend who I have known for years on a professional basis. If you know of someone, either who is extremely educated in the wine industry,-and knows a bit more than you do, it really is an added dimension to your party. Most vintners, growers, etc love to educate and inform, what better way than to have them join in the fun?

I also had a trivia game on wine-which educated those of us who are not well informed.   My trivia included some history of wine, anatomy of a grape, and what foods to pare with wine. The Vintner discussed the various types of wine and the regions in California that grow the various grapes. So you are probably wondering what happened with the pictures? Well, I had everyone put their picture in a bowl and each person had to match the picture they drew out with the person they thought was the correct match. That caused a great deal of laughter!

As for the wine, generally, we all agreed that the gold medal winners where in fact worthy of the gold. We also discovered that local wines were high up on the list, among the more sophisticates, in favorites. I was actually pleasantly surprised at the results of this opinion. Temecula Valley Wineries had very favorable reviews.   Temecula Valley should be proud. Cougar Winery, Miramonte ,Wiens and Hart were just some of the local favorites that showed up at our party.    The overall consensus was that we are going to do it again.   The next time, we will focus on a specific wine and offer the foods that compliment that particular wine. Other than that, make sure that everyone leaves safe and sober.