HPR

How To Get Rid of Your Winter Blues

By Nikki Berglund
Staff Writer

Is this insanely long winter getting you down? Do you feel like you haven’t seen your friends in months because they’ve all been hibernating like bears? Are you looking for a little somethin’ somethin’ to pass the time until the thermometer actually creeps its way back up to past freezing? Maybe it’s time to throw a little party. I am not talking about your typical “let’s get drunk because it’s cold” excuse for a party…how about classing it up a bit instead with a wine tasting party?

I know this can sound intimidating to some, but a party is only as snooty as the host/hostess chooses to make it. If you are a person who enjoys wine, no matter what your level of expertise, you can throw a fun filled, informative wine party, where everyone gets a little education to go along with their wine buzz. What is not to like about that?!

The first thing you have to consider is who to invite. Generally a group of 8 to 10 people is ideal since things can start to get a little chaotic with all of those glasses. One wine bottle can accommodate up to 12 people if you go with the standard wine tasting pour of 2 ounces, but there won’t be any left and that’s no fun- that is unless you have two bottles! You might want to also consider the level of wine knowledge of your guests. If you have some people who know nothing about wine and then others who are going to dominate the party with their obnoxious expertise on the subject, you may have a problem.

Before you start deciding on your wines, you should first establish if it will be a blind or non-blind tasting. A blind tasting means that the guests will not know what they are drinking until after they are done tasting and evaluating. There are pros and cons to this approach. This can be fun if you have a bunch of really experienced wine tasters but can also turn intimidating really fast. It can also get distracting if people start competing for who can guess the varietal, region, etc. correct first. Then again, the blind tasting takes away the possibility that a person may form an opinion about the wine based on the label or the region before they have had a chance to taste it. Although not the most eco-friendly, if you do decide to do it blind, make sure to ask your liquor store for individual brown bags for each wine.

Since there is such a crazy amount of wine out there, a theme helps to make things a little less convoluted. Some simple themes include a varietal tasting (ex. different Cabernet Sauvignons), a regional tasting (ex. wines from Argentina), or a budget theme (ex.  $10 Merlots). With all of the Organic/Bio-dynamic wines popping up out there, this could be an interesting idea. If you are dealing with a group that really knows their stuff, there are always the vintage tastings. A “vertical” tasting entails serving one wine, but from different years whereas a “horizontal” tasting involves serving several different wines from the same category and the same vintage (ex: Napa Cabernets from 2001). This type of tasting is not for the light-hearted and is more for the serious connoisseur. One other really cool idea is an aroma tasting party. Wine descriptions often include words like grapefruit, leather, chocolate, cherries, cedar, etc. Since it can be difficult for people to distinguish these flavors from the wines, having an aroma aid alongside the wine is a helpful way to make the association a little bit clearer. For instance, you could have a bowl of peppercorns to compare with the Syrah or a bowl of rose petals next to a Gewürztraminer.

The next thing you need to decide is, with food or no food? The food issue can get a little tricky and should also be considered when picking which wines you want to feature. I personally love the idea of a wine and cheese pairing party, but this can get expensive and will also take a bit more research on the part of the host. It would be tragic to ruin a perfectly good cheese and a delicious wine just because you didn’t do your homework. You could also do all dessert wines and pair them with different desserts—yum! If you are really serious about the actual wine tasting part of the evening, you might want to save the food for afterwards. For a “standalone” tasting, you want to only serve bland foods that will work as palate cleansers only. Some good options include water crackers or pieces of plain French bread. If you choose not to serve anything, just make sure there is plenty of water on hand for people to rinse out their mouths between wines.

There are four main steps to evaluating a wine: LOOK, SMELL, TASTE and SWALLOW. Within each of these steps there are quite a few things to think about. A tasting sheet is an ideal way for your guests to record their thoughts and even do some wine rating if you choose. I found a great wine tasting guide, complete with tasting sheets and an aroma wheel which is another awesome tool to have for your tasting. You can find this wonderful free wine tasting kit at: http://www.decanter.com/fileBank/decanter/PDF/tastingkit.pdf.

Here are a few additional pointers to ensure a proper good time for your tasting:

::Don’t get too funky with your household smells because they will affect the experience. This means candles, flowers, perfume, cologne or cigarette smoke.

::Make sure to have a dump bucket or spittoon for those (crazy) folks who don’t want to finish their glass.

::Try to use a white tablecloth. This will help with the LOOK part of the wine tasting process.

::Think about the season when having a wine tasting, although in our case all we want to do is forget about the season!

::When tasting wines, go from white to red, driest to sweetest, and lightest to heaviest.

::You can choose to use different wine glasses for each wine depending on the varietal. If this is not an option, a clear tulip variety with a stem is ideal. Also, make sure there is no soap residue in the glass.

Remember that the main point of this exercise is to ENJOY!!!

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