Wine Tasting Party | California Vs. France

Hosting a Wine tasting party is one of the easiest and most fun themes for me. You can’t go wrong with good wine, good food, and good friends. Here are some ideas to help you host your own.

Invite

This clean and elegant invitation design is from INKKWedding, and you can find it on Etsy.

If you are not serving dinner, then choose an invitation that describes your party best.

Pick the Wine

There are many ways to host a wine party. This part can be a bit overwhelming because there are so many wine options, so find your theme and stick with it.

A few years ago, we hosted a blind tasting party. We paired inexpensive wines vs. expensive. You can also compare wine regions, grape varietals or do wine and food pairing.

For this party, we decided to compare California wines vs. French wines. Then, we asked each of our friends to bring a special bottle of wine from a specified region; this takes a bit of coordination ahead of time, but this way, you get a nice variety of wines.

Begin with champagne or white wine, then move on to the reds. Remember that it is a tasting, so serve small pours. You can always go back and have more.

Stationary

We are fortunate to have a friend that knows extensively about wines. He helped us figure out what type of wines to ask our guests to bring and also was at the party to answer any questions we had.

Since I can’t let you borrow my friend to host your wine tasting party, I will share a few other options to help your guest learn about the wine.

By now, a lot of people are familiar with swirling, seeing, sniffing, and then sipping the wine. These steps are silly but important, so take your time with each glass and enjoy them.

To keep track of each wine, I recommend making coasters for each of your wine glasses. You only need a printer, cardstock, and a Cricut cutting machine (Here is how). The coasters help you stay organized as you are pouring, and the guest can keep track of the wine they are drinking. Instead of pouring one drink at a time, pour a few at once; that way, your guest can truly compare.

I don’t own 40 wine glasses, nor have the space to keep them. I rent all the glass from the local party rental supplier. They are inexpensive and best of all you don’t have to wash anything. The price of a rental usually includes glass, insurance, and clean-up. The clean-up is my favorite part of this arrangement.

Also, to learn more about each wine bottle, make some cards with information about each one. We printed one 5×7 info card for each wine. Include everything you can find about the bottle and find some cool info about the winery. Lastly, keep a pencil around in case anybody wants to make some notes.

To lighten things up, print each quote below on a 5×7 card. Use the quote cards as the cover to your info cards.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Make small wine markers for each glass of champagne by using the same method used to make the coasters. Just change the size of the shape to 2 inches. Then make a small incision on the paper and place the marker on the rim of the champagne glass.

Unfortunately, I had issues with my printer, so I had to write my funny names with a chalk marker.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Decor

To make a greenery garland, find your favorite foliage and overlap the leaves. The last pieces should face the opposite way of how you started so that you can hide the branches. I use floral wire when I want the garland to drape over the table, but if it’s just in the center of the table, I skip the floral wire because, without it, it’s easier to place other decorations in the center of the garland.

I don’t like to cover my table with linen, but I have to protect it. Placemats are very expensive, especially if you want them to match the party. Fortunately, you can buy stiff felt sheets. They are inexpensive, large, thick, and come in many colors. My local craft store sells them for less than a dollar.

There is already too much going on in the table, so I set the decanters out of the way.

Food

You don’t have to serve dinner at your tasting party, but please have snacks, lol. I think wine tastes better with food, so here are some options;

• Cheese
• Salami
• Bread
• Crackers
• Grissini breadsticks
• Fresh fruit
• Dried fruit
• Wine grape raisins
• Quince
• Nuts
• Gourmet chocolate

If possible, serve all the yummy snacks on individual plates or small cutting boards. My cutting boards are from Ikea, but you can find many options online.

Also, keep a few small jars with coffee beans in them. The coffee clears the nose. You can use them between each glass or whenever you feel you can’t smell the wine anymore.

• 

• 

The verdict on this wine tasting party | California vs. France is that they are all delicious, Ha! I am not a wine expert; I just like to drink good wine and throw parties. Every bottle was unique, and you can tell the pride and hard work that went into producing each bottle.

Shop this Post

Cheers!