One way to discover a new wine that pleases your palate is to have a taste of many pours alongside each other. A wine tasting lets you enjoy a few bottles at a gathering of friends and family and can be both entertaining and educational. Here’s how to put together one.

5 Tips for Hosting a Wine-Tasting Party

1. Gather the Essentials

A wine tasting is no different from other parties that require careful preparation. Make a list of the essentials you’ll need, such as stemware, corkscrews, coasters, finger foods, and wine, of course.

To make the experience educational, stock up on tasting books, notepads, and pens for comparing observations. Provide at least two wine glasses per person and several spit buckets, or spittoons, so guests can sample a selection of wines without impairing their judgment.

2. Pick the Wines

Before buying the wine, choose a theme. Your guests may enjoy a themed tasting that celebrates wines from a particular region or wines of a specific type—sparkling wines, bold reds, or crisp whites, for example. Choose five wines and allocate a bottle per guest.

3. Pair With Food

It would be a mistake to neglect food. It’s not a requirement to whip up fancy dishes. Offer an array of snacks and hors d’oeuvres to complement the beverages along with a supply of palate cleaners—usually white bread and soda crackers. Research which finger foods will bring out the taste of your wine selections, including cheese, salted nuts, dried fruit, breadsticks, a charcuterie board of dried sausages, and dark chocolate.

4. Set the Mood With Music

Play music in the background—low enough so everyone can still converse without raising voices. Refrain from lighting scented candles. Their scent may overwhelm a wine’s aroma.

5. Serve Them Right

If you elect to taste reds and whites, serve them from lightest to darkest, and end with a dessert wine. At white wine tastings, proceed from dry to sweet. The same approach goes for reds. Serve light reds first, and finish with a full-bodied cabernet.

Wines taste best when its temperature is between 40 and 65 degrees. Serve whites at 40 to 50 degrees and reds at 55 to 65 degrees.

When hosting a wine tasting, choose only the best-tasting spirits from Hidden Lake Winery. Located in Aviston, IL, this winery offers an array of locally produced wines for shipping nationwide. They also have a restaurant, banquet hall, and event venue, perfect for holding celebrations and parties. Give them a call at (618) 228-9111 to inquire about their operations, or check out their selection of award-winning wines online.