How to Organize a Wine Tasting Group

The first rule of thumb is to keep it small, keep it simple and expect disagreements. Even the best of friends will have differences of opinion on everything from what wines to taste, how often to meet and how much to pay for each of the wine tastings. Kept in mind, this is what makes the preparation and presentations interesting. Ignored, and you had better plan on some failing grades.

Let’s start with the basics and outline the major homework assignments:

Group Selection: Who?  How many?  How often?

Organize The Group: Who hosts?  Who buys?

Selecting A Theme: Type of wine or grape? By country or region?

The Food: Do you need any?  It’s not a gourmet club.

The Research: Without it, it’s just a party.  Too much and it’s a lecture.

Additional Aids: Maximizing your wine education experience.
 

Here are some suggestions for addressing each of the categories above. While there are no right or wrong answers, there are things that will make your group tasting experience enjoyable, but others that may drive your members back to a keg of beer.

Group Selection

Friends or would-be friends work best. A complete stranger to all but one in the group may be uncomfortable. Keep the group relatively small. More than 8 to 10 and you may have a seating problem. Couples usually work best, but I’ve seen all-men wine tasting groups work equally well. Pick individuals who have time to do this. People who travel a lot will tend to cause unnecessary disruption. Select people serious about wine. The quality of research will be vastly better. Don’t meet more often than once a month and even that may put a strain on people’s schedules. Plan your meetings well in advance, at least three months out and make sure calendars are marked. It is best to schedule regularly (i.e. the 3rd Friday of each month), rather than deciding at the end of each session when and where the next one will take place.

Organize The Group

Schedule an organizational meeting to establish the “rules” for your tastings. It is best to assign one person to host the event at their home and alternate among the group. Set up a calendar far enough in advance so every member is scheduled to host once. Experience shows the host should also prepare any food accompaniments but not also be in charge of the wine. Define expectations of the group including how the wines should be selected, purchase price, food pairings, research, and substitutes if a member can’t make it to a tasting. Make sure to discuss some basic things like where (in the home) the tasting should physically take place, wine glasses (who provides them, including style of stemware), how does the wine get paid for (share equally or each as they provide?), etc. It is best if a single individual is assigned to purchase the wines for the evening, rather than having each member bring a bottle. This avoids duplication and maintains control.
The person buying the wine should also be in charge of researching the wines. If you take the approach of having each member bring a bottle, make sure to give clear direction about wine selection and research.

Selecting A Theme

Don’t “wing it” by simply telling each member to bring a bottle. During your organizational meeting, discuss the types of wines the group would like to learn about. Be sure to discuss price issues – a tasting of recent California Chardonnays will offer much more variety for your money than say, 1986 Bordeaux’s. Do not make the theme too broad, like “white wines from the Napa valley.” Do not make the theme so narrow it may be hard to even find a good selection of wines in your area (i.e. Rhone Valley Viognier or wines from Romania) Keep the theme simple, here are some examples:

California Sauvignon Blancs
Shiraz from Australia
Bordeaux versus Meritage
A “vertical” of Cabernet Sauvignons from Silver Oak Cellars
Markham Merlot versus Glass Mountain Merlot (their second label)
Wines from Argentina (or South Africa or any other up and coming region)
Component tasting (taste individual bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, which are blended to then produce Bordeaux)
Chardonnays from different states in the U.S., outside California
A blind tasting of Napa Cabernets with a wide variety of price ranges.

The Food

It doesn’t need to be fancy, but you need to serve some type of food. Food is used both to cleanse the palette and enhance the flavors of the wines. When the theme for the wine is determined, the host should start thinking about the food. Food flavors should be subtle, both in taste and bouquet. To cleanse the palette, choose unflavored bread sticks, simple crackers (not Saltines), vegetables such as carrot sticks or celery, apple or pear slices, and basic white and yellow cheese (stay away from anything overly aged). If the object is to also demonstrate proper food pairings, some research is warranted, but some interesting simple foods include:

Wine crackers
Pruscuitto ham
Sliced green, red, and yellow peppers
French bread with Brie cheese (careful with this one)
Semi-sweet (bitter) chocolate, but only with full red wines
Small portions of sliced roast beef wrapped around asparagus
Foods to stay away from include:

Salsa and chips
Salami (most are too fatty)
Cheese-flavored crackers
Artichoke, onions, and avocado
Anything with a heavy cream sauce or vinegar base to it.
Smoked fish

The Research

Members should agree on the information to be presented at each tasting. Start with a B.Y.O.B. (Bring Your Own Bottle) orientation meeting, and assign members to research and present the basics on how wine is made, including its history. Another interesting meeting, although difficult to plan, is a wine flavors and smells orientation. Gather items that represent tastes and smells which frequently show up in good wines, but may be a bit unfamiliar, such as: black cherry, leather, tobacco, currants, vanilla, citrus peel, figs, black tea, and also bring items which impart a less-desireable taste or fragrance, such as: cork, vinegar, burnt match (for sulfur dioxide), grape stems, Vaseline, and “wet dog.” Specifics about the grape, smells, tastes, food pairings, etc., should be included. It’s nice to include information on the wine region (including maps), vineyard, wine maker, comparisons to other, similar wines, and ratings from the “experts,” if available. Do not go overboard with statistics – no one remembers them anyway after a tasting. Avoid focusing too much on ratings by the “experts,” because everyone’s tastes differ. It is always nice to prepare a handout each member can take home with them which gives a brief description of each of the wines tasted.
 

Additional Aids

Basic research aids include: the Internet, library, local wine retail stores, and even sponsored wine tastings. Magazines such as Wine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast, Food and Wine, are excellent. Many wine stores also publish newsletters and catalogs, which can be informative. Nicer restaurants are now hosting wine tastings of their own, which are both good for research and can be used as additional fun for your group. Look for wine tastings hosted by charitable organizations as additional ways for your group to grow their learning experience. Contact your local wine distributor. They often will be willing to come to your meeting and provide research and the wines at little or no charge.