With all of the great private tasting experiences offered by the 400+ wineries in Napa, why host your own tasting party spotlighting Napa Valley wines? First of all, you can arrange for Napa Wine Tours to pick up your guests at each of their residences or accommodations then drop them off safely after the event. Second, it’s a way to bring together some of your favorite people. Third, you’re bound to discover something you haven’t tried before.
Supplies
You’ll need:
- Napa Valley wine
- one glass per guest
- a pitcher of water to rinse glasses between tastings
- a “dump bucket”
- pen and paper for each guest to take notes
- bread or crackers and water to cleanse the palate between tastings
- a CD with background music
You won’t need:
- to decorate with scented candles or flowers
Some of the Supplies Needed for your Napa Valley Wine Tasting Party
Tasting Options
It’s your party, try anything you want to.
- Will you provide the wine or ask your guests to bring a bottle?
- If your guests will bring a bottle, consider asking them to bring a certain type of wine (sparkling, white, red, port)
- Maybe your wine tasting party will focus on the same type of wine produced by different wineries (for example, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon)
- Consider a “blind” tasting where no one is allowed to see the type of wine and the Napa Valley winery that created it until after each wine has been tasted
- Will you prepare a bite (appetizer, cheese, or chocolate) to pair with each wine or ask your guests to provide the perfect bite to pair with the wine they bring?
Some of our Favorite Napa Valley Wines from Freemark Abbey, Silver Oak, Chimney Rock, Monticello Vineyards, William Hill, & Cornerstone Cellars
Tips
- Ask your guests to refrain from wearing cologne or perfume
- Each tasting pour should be 2 ounces (1/4 cup)
- Offer a maximum of 4 to 6 wines
- If you have a variety of wines, start with sparkling, whites, reds, then dessert wines and ports
- Start with your driest to sweetest wines
- Brut styles are the driest sparkling wines
- Move from lightest to heaviest wines
- Sauvignon Blanc is a dry, light wine compared to Chardonnay which is a drier, heavier wine
- Pinot Noir is a light dry wine, Merlot is a medium dry wine, and Cabernet Sauvignon is a heavy dry wine
If you plan your party to end right before dinner, continue the evening by having Napa Wine Tours take your group of favorite people out to a Napa Valley restaurant before ending the evening.
