Experience the world, by simply raising a glass. Holding
your own wine tasting party allows you to travel all over and sample different vintages from various regions
(and even go back in time, depending on the year it was corked). And you don’t even have to step out, should
the occasion call for an indoor celebration at home.
Product consultant Anthony Tanovi, for the LCBO in Toronto’s Liberty Village, shares his advice for throwing
a successful wine tasting at home.
Types of tastings — the basics:
Depending on the type of wines that will be showcased, there are various tastings they would match
with. Tanovi breaks down several of the common
ones.
Connoisseurs (or perhaps aspiring ones) may wish to take a journey into the Old vs. New World of wines in a
vertical tasting. This type consists of wines from several different vintages or years that
were produced by one winery. Its purpose allows for comparison of aging process, says Tanovi. Some good
examples to choose from would be a French burgundy and a Bordeaux.
A horizontal tasting is comprised of wines that come from the same vintage or year, but are
represented by different wineries. These allow for much more flexibility, says Tanovi. Here, a California
zinfandel might be compared with a wine of the same variety and from the same region.
To make the event even more fun, incorporate a blind tasting. In this case, each wine is
poured without identifying the label, which allows for guests to use all of their senses to pick up on
different aspects of the wine. For example, you can give the labels descriptions and see who can match the
wines accordingly. Or score who is able to recognize the most about the wine’s characteristics, such as
country of origin.
Other useful tips:
Keep decor simples. If you are using candles, it’s best not to use scented, as they may interfere
with the aroma of the wine.
During the event, it is also customary to provide each guest with their own tasting card, which should
include type of wine, producing vineyard, year and brief description (usually found on the label). On these
cards guests can record notes on the wine’s appearance, aroma, flavour and pairing nuances, just to name a
few.
Pairing wines with food:
In particular, Tanovi says there is a general misunderstanding of matching certain wines with
cheeses. Depending on the style of the wine, whites tend to pair more easily with complex cheeses than
red. But no matter your fare, Tanovi explains it is always important to have foods that will cleanse
people’s palettes, such as breads or crackers.
During the tasting:
When tasting wines, you will want to work from dry to sweet with white wines and progress from light
to full-bodied with red wines, concludes Tanovi.•
