It’s Time for a Blind Wine Tasting Party!
If you’ve never hosted or attended a blind wine tasting party, it’s time! We’ve done this several times over the years, and we attended an excellent one this past Saturday night.
What is a blind wine tasting party? It can really be done in many different ways, with the common theme being that the guests are tasting and comparing different wines without knowing what they’re tasting.
Several years ago, I discovered a game manufactured and distributed by Blind Wine. The beauty of the game is that it’s a chance to explore and experience several wines in one evening with great friends who enjoy wine. The premise of the game is that each couple or individual brings a wine to face the challenge of the critics and vie for top honors.
The host establishes the varietal, the price point, and the year (maybe even the region) and invites friends who bring a bottle of wine that fits into the described range. The guests bring the wine in a bag, so no one sees it but the host. Each guest hands the bottle to the host, who then places each bottle in a numbered bag. It is best to ensure that all the glasses used during the tasting are the same, that dump buckets are available for unused wine, and that spit cups are available. Each wine is tasted blindly and assessed for clarity, aroma, taste, and finish. The guests assign points for each category and record their scores on the scorecard. At the end, the host tallies up the points and voilà – a winner emerges.
The fun is tasting each wine and exploring it in the glass – you are the critic; and it’s a great time as the competition unfolds. No one knows which wine they are tasting and hence the suspense. It is a very cool evening. Each time we’ve done it, the wine tasting kicks off the evening and is followed by dinner. We’ve been known to follow our blind wine tastings with “crock pot dinners,” because who has time to cook when you’re focusing on the wine competition?!
There are several game formats out there on the market. Just recently I discovered one, which is about being able to identify the varietal. This could be worth a try in the future. I have a preference for the Blind Wine game as it allows everyone to fully participate and there is not pressure to get it right. It’s totally your opinion based on the four components of clarity, aroma, taste, and finish. Unfortunately, when I recently tried to order a new Blind Wine game, it appears the company may have gone out of business. I’ve included some pictures of the Blind Wine game scorecards, so you can get a sense of how it works. But, you may want to try another format — or just make something up on your own! Blind wine tastings really do lend themselves to creativity.
When you do a blind wine tasting, here are some recommendations. 1) Don’t have more than 6 bottles of wine to taste. 2) Don’t have food out during the tasting, as it will alter the flavor profiles of the wines. 3) Use wine crackers and water to refresh your palate between wines. 4) Encourage folks not to share their impressions of the wine before others have completed their assessment, because it should be their perceptions of the wine without the influence of others.
So, give it a go — and use your creativity in establishing the format.
Enjoy!
