Strat's Place - How to hold a Wine Tasting

For several years I have organized "cooperative, informal wine tastings". This describes how I organize them, and in some cases, why I organize them the way I do. I don't claim this is perfect, but it works for me.

Quick Summary: Invite 6-20 people (ideally, 12). Taste 3-6 wines per flight, two flights max. Have several different types of food (munchies). Have people bring the food, their own glasses, and often, the wine. Never allow the wine to dominate the evening. Keep strict control of the wine, but encourage people to experiment with the food.

The wine.

I never have more than 6 bottles per flight, because most people can not compare more wines than that at once. Earlier on, I limited the flights to 3 or 4 bottles, but my own pallet memory has improved since then, but I still limit it to 6 bottles, and prefer 4 or 5. I try to have wines which appeal to everyone, which usually means a white flight and a red flight. Occasionally, I'll have two red flights. I also serve an on time wine, which is an oddball. I often supply all the wine for a tasting, because I often have the wines I want to taste. I have never asked people to pay cash for attendance, because I think that would cut into the informality of it. I've never begrudged this expense, but if you are short of cash, work cooperatively to have others bring the wine. My experience has always been that the fellowship is worth far more than the wine.

Almost always, I choose the wines to be tasted, even if I ask others to bring them, I specify what should be brought. For example, I'd never say "bring your favorite cab". One guy will bring a good $10 bottle, another something 10 years old, another will bring a really expensive bottle, and so on. This does not make for a good tasting. This situation is much worse with most other wines, which often have very different styles which can not be compared to each other, even if they are all "zins". If I want cabs, I tell people to bring a current release cab, in the $20-$30 range (or whatever I want). Normally, I would specify a region, too, although my friends generally bring California wines, so I sometimes don't bother.

If you are reading this, I'm sure you have some ideas about what you would like to taste. But there are basically only 5 different types of tasting:

Comparing different wines from the same grape/region/etc. Examples: Chianti's, Merlot, Zins from Amador County, Cabs from Paso Robles, etc.
Comparing different years of the same wine.
Comparing different wines from the same winery. Examples: taste Sterlin's 1996 wines, or compare three different Zins which Ridge made the same year from different vineyards.
Comparing different regions or production techniques in the same basic wine.
Comparing storage or serving methods. Does wine stored for two years in a locker taste better than the same bottle stored in a closet? Do four year old magnums taste different than four year old bottles, than four year old splits?

I tell people to be at my place at 7, and tell them that we start tasting at 7:30 and that if they arrive by then, they will get a taste of the "on time wine". In the past, this wine has been a highly experimental bottle, but too many of these were not good, and the whole point is to encourage people to come early, so now I just choose a good bottle of wine.

Food.

To me, food is critical to a wine tasting, because food is critical to wine. I drink mostly at dinner, and therefore want wine which tastes good at dinner. I've found that wine often tastes radically different with food, so I want several different munchies at the tastings. Munchies are better than a meal, because there is more variety, so it lets people experiment with fatty foods, tart foods, etc. I supply cheese, crackers, and bread, but not much of any of these. I have had people organize a parallel food tasting (different breads, different olives, etc.) I encourage this. Food is where cooperation really shines.

Delivery.

Except for the on time wine, all wines are tasted blind. I think this is critical to a fair and interesting tasting. I strongly suggest that people line up their glasses in a line, and we pour wine "A" into the left most, "B" into the second to left, etc. No matter how tipsy a taster becomes, they will remember which wine is A, B, etc. After the tasting we have the "unveiling". At that point each bottle is about 50% or 75% empty, but there is still some left. When we unveil, I write the ID letter on the bottle, and often say a few words about the wine, or ask the person who brought it to say a few words about it. I also ask the price. I generally limit pours to 1 or 1.5 oz. This ensures that there will be some left for sipping after the bottles are unveiled. I have spittoons (plastic cups) available, and encourage people to use them at the beginning of the tasting. Few do. I also provide water, and strong encourage people to drink at least as much water as wine the in course of the evening. Most do.

Discussion.

Never allow wine to dominate the evening. I think I said that before, but I'll say it again. This gets stuffy very quickly. If not after one evening, then certainly after two or three. On the other hand, people's lives are always interesting, and if they're not: get more interesting tasters. :-)

Paper and Pens.

I used to distribute these at the beginning of the tasting, but few people wrote anything down, and I've stopped doing it. Occasionally people ask for paper and pens, and I supply them. Maybe I should go back to making them available.

Scoring.

I use a different scoring method for each tasting. This has gone on so long it is a running joke. But the basics of my scoring system is always the same: I ask the tasters which wine they like the best, or which wine they think is the best value. This is what matters to me. I never use a 100 point scale because that is like cutting logs with a scalpel (to fine a tool, for the cuts planned).

A simple scoring system is to just count 1st places and last places for each wine. A more complex method is to give each wine 5 points for a first place, 3 for second, and 1 for third. Sum up the points. I have found that these scores often result in different winners, because the wine with the most first places, often has the most last places as well, while a wine with almost universal second place appeal does better in the scoring. Finally, I never force people to judge the wines. Therefore, I always use a scoring technique where if some person doesn't participate, or only chooses a first place wine (not second or third) that does not bias the results.

I used to do these every month, but this got too busy. I would be sending invites to the next tasting a few days after the last one. Now I do it every two months, or every quarter.

We thank Joshua for this great article ... if you'd like to contact him with any questions you can drop him an email - Art & Betsy