Great Taste: Wow Your Friends with a Wine Tasting

Having a few friends over and in need of a fun group activity? This weekend try hosting a wine tasting! Not a sommelier? No problem – this event is great for everyone!

What you’ll need:

1. Pens
2. Paper
3. Wine!

Here's how it works:

• Choose a kind of wine to compare, like a Pino Grigio or a Cabernet
• Have everyone in your party responsible for bringing a different brand's offering of this type of wine, like Barefoot or Pelee Island - Make sure to get everyone to email you their choice so you don't have any doubles!
• Create numbered place cards, one for each bottle of wine
• Every time a guest arrives, have them hide their bottle from the other attendees and bring it into a separate area where you can cover the label (and any other identifiers)
• Once the wine is unrecognizable, put it behind one of the numbered place cards
• After all the wine has arrived and is behind a number it's time to start the tasting!

The tasting:

• For each bottle you and your guests try, write down the number the bottle was behind
• Discuss and write down what you think of the wine, what notes you taste, and what you'd rate the wine out of ten - You can even try and guess what brand of wine you think it is, or what region you think it's from
• When you're done tasting that wine, put it back behind its numbered place card
• Repeat until you've tasted all the wine
• Take the covers off each bottle, keeping them behind their numbered place cards, and check out your results! Is Silver Oak really your favorite? Or does it have some new competition?

This is a great way to try new kinds of wine and get everyone talking. You're all getting the same type of wine so it'll be easier to put personal preference aside and taste the distinct flavors of each brand. You taste cherry? I've got a hint of nutmeg or something spicy over here! It's sure to be a fun evening you and your guests won't soon forget.

If wine's not your thing you can replicate this tasting with all kinds of beverages - like coffee (have everyone pick out a different kind of breakfast blend) or beer (put local microbrews to the test!).

Looking for more ways to wow as a host? Get the design inspiration you need to bring your living room to life at any of our Marketplace Events shows.