WINE TASTING PARTY

The school called me today to tell me a few things. The first was that my son had spent the morning loudly telling his fellow first graders that he “forgot” to put on underwear this morning. Apparently, it was hysterical. I raced over to the school with superhero undies stuffed in my purse (they were clean). The second thing they told me was that the wine-tasting fundraiser which I hosted with a fellow classroom mom was a huge success and made a ton of money for the school! I’ll take one win for the day!

Whether it’s a fundraiser or just a party for fun, a wine tasting party is always a success.

Let’s just pause for a second and think about wine + school. Don’t you think every school function and fundraiser would raise the fundraising bar if it included wine? More volunteers, more participants, looser pocketbooks. . . check, check, check! Just saying, I’m on to something here.

I know “some people”, eye roll included –just like to pour wine at a wine tasting, but I like to make it fun- and educational for those who want to step up their knowledge for wine. You can host a big party or a small intimate gathering. We went with a big party!

Here are a few ideas:

1. Have fun!
2. Don’t let your kids pick the wine. Or your friend who likes animals on the label (you know who you are but I still love you).
3. Have different stations so people can try different things, and actually learn something. I made five stations.
4. Do a blind tasting. THIS IS FUN—trust me.
5. Serve easy food that can sit out (so you can have fun too).
6. Make sure you have a wine opener or two (seems silly, but well. . .)
7. Play music!

I made five different wine stations. We made a little sign at each one, just describing what you’re supposed to experience and learn, despite the obvious fun filled joy of drinking.

“Just have a drink”
At this station we had a basic white and red, for those who really just showed up to drink, or wanted something easy and familiar. Not everyone is an adventurous wine experimenter, so this station was for them. Sancerre or Sauvignon Blanc (for the white) and Cabernet Sauvignon is perfect for this station.

“Try something new”
The point of this station is to give your guests a chance to try something they wouldn’t normally buy or drink. I can give ideas on some of my favorites in another post one day (or hey—email me!) but you might want to walk into your handy local wine store and ask them what they recommend that is outside the normal everyday-buying wine. This may be a good time to let the wine store owner know what you’re up to that you’d be happy to let everyone know that you sourced your wine from their wonderful store!

At this station, I ended up serving a Greek white wine, an Italian Verdicchio and a Spanish Red wine.

“Rose’s around the world”
Summer is over now but Rose’ is super popular. Rose’ can come from all over the world and it’s kind of fun to taste the difference. We had Rose’s Spain, Provence (France), Austria and the US. You can sound nice and smart by saying things like: “Can you taste the difference between the old and new world grapes?” Or “The American Rose’ is heavily Zin focused.” (make sure you break out your best fancy lady accent to say that).

“Blind tasting”
For the blind wine station, I actually had well known wines and people struggled! There was a crowd around this table for quite a while with lots of giggling and shrugging and guessing! This is just plain fun—have a ballot and give multiple choice options and tell everyone at the end what each wine was.

“Sparkling”
Who doesn’t love bubbles? This was fun and you can have a variety of Champagne or sparkling wines or just serve one you love! I chose to go with a Cava (traditional sparkling wine from Spain), Cremant (traditional sparkling wine from France), and a yummy Franciacorta (traditional sparkling wine from Italy). If you were looking for someone at the party—this is where you found them!

If you want to do a small gathering, say-10 people or under. Pick a theme, such as Sauvignon blanc around the world, or Spanish wine, etc. Just have fun!

Cheers to successful party! Remember have fun, and don’t forget your underwear!