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Tips for Having a Wine and Food Pairing Party

It's a great idea to get together with friends or family for a wine tasting. These are some tips for having a wine and food pairing party that will be a hit.

By Jessica HerringPublished 7 years ago 5 min read
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A wine and food pairing party is an exciting activity for adults. You can learn about new types of wine and enjoy socializing with good friends or family members. Even though it may seem simple enough that you just need wine and some small meals, it can be quite tricky planning a good wine and food party.

Here are some tips for having a wine and food pairing party that you and your guests will love. With the proper planning and great selections of food and wine, the party is guaranteed to be a big success. Hopefully, after this party, you will learn some wine hacks.

Pick a fun theme for the party.

In order to have a great wine and food pairing party, you should pick a theme for the event. Your theme can be anything from a blind tasting to pairing the wines based on their style or the regions they're from. For a blind tasting, you can put the wines in large pitchers, label them with numbers, or wrap them with tin foil to avoid people from knowing which wines they're tasting. If you choose to select the wines based on their style, pick wines that range from white, red, dry, and dessert wines. This large selection will keep you and your guests amused and allow people to try a variety of different wines. If you decide to pick wines based on the region, pick a wide range of wines from the same region. You can't really go wrong with the theme for the party. If you are in doubt, you can always ask the guests to each bring their favorite bottle of wine.

Try and keep the wine tasting small.

For a wine and food pairing party, it's important to keep the event small. Try and keep the party to a maximum of ten people so the guests have enough space at the table and don't feel awkward being with several people they've never met before. A small, intimate wine tasting is much better than a large impersonal party with several bottles of wine and people unsure of what to do. A small party allows people to socialize more and lets more people try the wines. If you have a big wine tasting, then you might need duplicates of certain wines for each person to taste them. Keeping the party small and not buying too much wine is a key rule for a great wine party.

Buy enough supplies for a proper wine tasting.

Before the wine and food pairing party, make sure to have more than enough glasses, coasters, utensils, paper plates, napkins, palate cleansers, and paper for people to take notes. It's helpful to make a large grocery list with items you need to buy so no one ends up without a glass or plate. Also, it avoids you from panicking last minute and having to rush to the store.

Serve food that will match well with the wine.

To have a proper wine and food pairing party, you might consider researching the right foods to serve that will match the acidity of the wine. Often chocolate, cheeses, nuts, or acidic lemons are good options. However, it can vary based on the specific types of wine you are serving. Make sure you tell your guests ahead of time what type of food you're serving so no one ends up shocked that there are only appetizers and they're expecting full meals.

Keep the table simple and don't have scented candles or flowers with strong aromas.

To ensure that you and your guests can fully appreciate the wine at the wine and food pairing party, make sure to not set the table with aromatic flowers or strong scented candles. These items look pretty but the strong smell will take away from the scent of the wine. It's perfectly acceptable to have the table simple with a tablecloth, plates, and glasses.

Serve the wine in the right order based on the colors and acidity.

If you are planning on serving a wide range of colors of wine at your wine and food pairing party, then plan appropriately and serve the wine based on their color. For example, don't serve red and white wine near each other because it will take away from enjoying the tastes for the wine pairing. Also, don't pair a dry wine next to a sweet or dessert wine. Make sure to know the colors and acidity of each wine and plan appropriately. Also, decide which wines should be chilled to improve their taste.

Have guests take notes and judge the wines.

During the wine and food pairing party, encourage guests to write down notes about the particular wines. They can write down notes about the wine based on their various aromas, textures, balance, and flavors. Most of the guests' notes will vary widely because each person will feel differently about how the wine tastes. Encourage guests to get creative when thinking about the wines. If you are unsure what to look for when tasting wines, then brush up on a guide to wine tasting.

Taste the wines again and have guests vote on them.

Encourage your guests to taste the wines again to see if they have a different perspective on the wines. Once the guests wrote down their final notes, tell them to vote on which wines are their favorite and have them explain why. It will be exciting learning why people love certain wines and hearing a wide range of thoughts on the acidity, flavor, and texture of various wines. There are a lot of well-known wine tasting myths that your guests might believe.

Socialize with friends after the tasting.

Once you finish the wine tasting at the wine and food pairing party, allow guests to stay and keep enjoying the food, wine, and good company. There's no need to rush people to leave the party early, especially if there's plenty of extra food and wine. People will love hanging out after the wine tasting to keep tasting the delicious food and wine.

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About the Creator

Jessica Herring

I'm passionate about writing and traveling.

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