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Its almost my turn to host the tasting for my wine group and I'm looking for theme ideas; some common "thing" that links the wines we're going to taste. Some past ones have been "The Noble Grapes", "Wines for the Porch"," Old world v. New World styles", "It doesn't have to be expensive to be good" ( all wines were under 12 bucks)....and several countries in general terms- Italy, Chile, Australia to name a few.
Its a casual group, more about trying new wines and enjoying the company of friends than about technical/analytical tasting, though that comes up on occasion, too.
We usually have 6-8 wines in a price range up to $35 retail, the group age is between 35 and 80, and we meet at the local community clubhouse, working with a distributor so we do have a pretty wide range of options available.
could do "vinyards of Washington state" or "vinyards of Virginia" -- or any other state that interests you and have a sampling of the wines from that state.
Could do a "Dry but not dusty" sampling of Cabernet Savignons.
grampa Tom, I like the idea of offering wines from places "other than CA", but doggone it, none of the distributors that I can use carry the "better" wines from VA, NC, NY, et al. I think it would be a fun idea- if you know where I can get some NC or VA wines in particular, that aren't sweet, please share your source!
I like the musical pairing idea...romaneats- I don't know if there is a sound system in the club room, but that would spiff things up some. Thanks
Location: St Thomas, USVI - Seattle, WA - Gulf Coast, TX
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Fun! I love wine-tasting parties!
Agreeing with others, you can pretty much continue to choose a grape, a region, or both, as your theme, endlessly. You'll never run out of new options, simply by spinning that wheel. The varietals and regions are pretty much endless. If you wanted to venture into something more playful, you could choose a food pairing or specific occasion theme.
My latest wine party featured a specific winery. A slew of varieties (several blends, a viognier, chardonnay, Malbec, Syrah... so across the board) from the same winemaker. It was a fun way to feature a very specific region, style, and vintner.
Other, specific ideas:
The Pinot Noir grape: you can feature anything from a French Burgundy to the famous Willamette Valley, Oregon wines. If you feature both, it opens the door for a very specific, new v old world comparison, as you mentioned.
Tempranillos of Spain: See if you can samples from several different wine regions throughout the country. (This would obviously fit right in with Romaneats' tapas idea, as well.)
"Battle of the off-dry whites" (think Thanksgiving's classic Gwertzameiner, Viognier, Riesling... Kind of fun b/c it has the potential of the holiday theme, as well.). The same wines could be re-themed as wines that go with spicy food, if that sounds more fun. Fix a few Thai-style appetizers with some heat and enjoy the pairings! Or just say, bring your perfect Thanksgiving wine, whatever that might be, and compare. That same theme could be carried over to pairing wine with chocolate, or wines that pair perfectly with steak, or pick a Christmas-style dish as your center theme: "wines to drink with your Christmas roast", etc., etc.
Go Local: Pretty much every state in the U.S. is producing wine on some level, today. Pick from a sample of nearby wineries to compare.
grampa Tom, I like the idea of offering wines from places "other than CA", but doggone it, none of the distributors that I can use carry the "better" wines from VA, NC, NY, et al. I think it would be a fun idea- if you know where I can get some NC or VA wines in particular, that aren't sweet, please share your source!
I like the musical pairing idea...romaneats- I don't know if there is a sound system in the club room, but that would spiff things up some. Thanks
busy, you might try ordering directly from the winemakers. As long as wine-shipping is allowed in your state, you should be able to do some online research and order directly from them. That would be a fun/easy way to go with the single-winery theme. Order a case from one winemaker, containing several varieties.
Well that is quite an array of ideas Island City Girl- thanks!
Those who suggested food to go with the wine- thanks so much! Unfortunately, we don't offer food other than palate cleansing items like cheese and crackers and or fruit or maybe some cut veggies because our budget is very tight and because our club can't allow us to bring in food from outside. We are very limited- but its more about the fun than the food, anyway, so it seems to suit everyone.
ICG- I LOVE the idea of weird grapes, but finding them where we live is very very difficult-just finding the 100% varietal for the Nobel Grapes was a nightmare!!!
I did a "wine swap" with 2 other couples once that was great fun. The criteria/"rules" were that each couple brought 3 bottles of the same wine that was under $15.00 in retail value. We opened one bottle and imbibed. Then other each couple took a bottle home. Personally I think it's easy to find a good expensive bottle of wine but it's a nice challenge to find one that is very affordable.
It's been suggested already but my sister (assistant winemaker in CA) once attended a very non-traditional wine region party. As in not Napa, Sonoma, Columbia or Willamette Valleys, Burgundy or Barossa or Rhone, etc. She said it was fascinating, but it largely depends on what you may have available. AVAs in Michigan, Missouri, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and Virginia, for example. Even the Dahlonega area north of Atlanta or the coast of Rhode Island and Connecticut. It is challenging, however, since outside of NY, CA, OR and WA most wines stay inside their state. If you live in a state that allows it (I don't, but after tomorrow's election that may change) on-line, as mentioned above, may be helpful.
I'll also second the idea of unusual varietals. The stuff that's hard to find, such as tannat, rkatseteli, aglianico, cynthiana, hybrids, meads, unusual fruit wines or even muscadine, all available in the east.
Last edited by SluggoF16; 11-07-2016 at 08:51 PM..
If you want to take the easier procurement route than unusual or hard-to-find wines you can go back to broader themes. Music was mentioned. How about fiction? Take a popular film or book and ask, Which would each of these characters enjoy? Divvy up the characters and expect each person to explain their choice.
Would have to be a commonly known work.
"Wizard of Oz"
"Gone With The Wind"
"The Graduate" for an unusual choice
A comic book like Justice League of America
Rebel Without A Cause with the main characters grown up
A lot of literature is well-known only for main characters so using books and plays depends on the participants. Unless you just allow Cliff's Notes and let folks explain at the party. If so, Jane Austen and Shakespeare. Even Stephen King, Bram Stoker, etc. for horror. By that token, you could use the board game Clue and make it a costume party.
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