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Wine Tasting Themes
By Brenda Francis
Wine tasting parties are very popular these days. Some are a freestyle kind of gathering, with attendees contributing any kind of wine. Others are more structured and guests are asked to bring wine from specific categories.
Choosing a category for your guests can be tricky. To maximize your learning opportunity, choose an area for your theme, rather than a grape. In particular, choose an area in Europe. Spain, Italy, or France because they are vast when it comes to wine selections. Each county spans all the wine styles, offering sparkling wines, rosés, whites, reds, and dessert wines. Here are some suggestions that will offer your wine tasting group a great diversity with a theme.
Throw an Italian wine tasting, but exclude Chianti and pinot grigio and see what creative bottles your guests bring to the table. Remind your guests not to forget about the island states of Sicily and Sardinia.
Exploring France by each particular region can be very enlightening. Every large region contains many smaller appellations with their own character. The large regions of Bordeaux, The Loire Valley and the Rhône Valley are versatile with most finger foods.
For something really enjoyable, ask your guests to bring a white wine from Alsace, France or Germany and an appetizer from their favorite Thai, Vietnamese, or Indian restaurant. Hot foods and lush whites like riesling and gewürztraminer are an incredible match. This pairing will win over even the most dedicated red wine drinker.
Don't want to dismiss California? Throw a Rhone Ranger tasting featuring the dozen or so producers that pride themselves on their Rhone Valley blends. A similar theme can focus on the Cali-Italians, those producers that model wines after the traditional wines of Italy.
Spain can be combined with Portugal, another up and coming warm growing region. Don't miss out on Spanish Cava, an inexpensive, quality sparkling wine. You might want to assign one person to pick up some Pedro Ximenez and another to bring the vanilla ice cream. Ending your evening with some Pedro drizzled over ice cream is pure heaven.
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