Tips in Hosting the Best Wine Tasting Event at Home

You have probably been to a number of wine tasting parties that involve wine experts and wine that cost a lot of money. That's not the type of party you want, especially if you are only starting in the world of wines. The good news is you can actually host a wonderful wine tasting event in your own home without having to spend hundreds of even thousands of dollars. In fact, you can host the perfect party without having to spend more than fifty bucks. 

How do you do that?

First off, what you need to do is to invite all your interested friends and tell them you're going to host a wine tasting party in your own home. However, instead of buying all the bottles for the event yourself, ask each of your friends to bring their own bottle to the party, which you will all share and evaluate.

The things you will need for this exciting event are:

Empty Wine Bags

Wine Criteria Sheet

Wine Glass or Plastic Cups

Prizes

Note: You will need the criteria sheet for grading the wines. You can either come up with your own criteria, or download one online. For the prizes, you will need them later on to reward the individuals who brought the winning wines.

Limit Wine Bottles to 20

When inviting guests to your party, try to limit the number of wine bottles to twenty. Having more bottles than that will definitely let you consume more time. If you have couple friends attending the party, tell them that each couple should only bring one bottle. You can also divide the group and assign which group would bring which wine type. For instance, the men would bring red and the women would bring white.

Register Wine Bottles as Soon as Guests Arrive

Assign someone to receive the bottles and register them as soon as guests arrive. In the registration sheet, write the make and type of the wine opposite the name of the person who brought it.

Wrap Wine Bottles with Empty Wine Bags

Guests shouldn't be able to see the bottles so make sure you cover them with paper bags. Simply label the bags with "R" plus a particular number for the red wines, and "W" plus a number for the whites.

Judging Time

Before you proceed to tasting the wines, have a quick wine tasting crash course. Unless you have real wine experts in the house, you would want to make sure everyone knows what criteria to use to judge the wines. You can evaluate the wines using 4 simple criteria: Sight, Flavor, Aroma, and Overall Impression.

You need to understand that you can have your own criteria for tasting wine. In the end, it will all come down to which bottle of wine your guests considers best and which one they consider worst.

Finally, present the best wine to the entire group and give rewards to whom they are due.

Hosting a wine tasting party need not be expensive. Save money by bringing affordable yet find-tasting wines such as Penfolds Cabernet Shiraz.  http://ezinearticles.com/?Tips-in-Hosting-the-Best-Wine-Tasting-Event-at-Home&id=7747554

Start a Wine Tasting Business For Thrills, Spills, and Lots of Money

If you want to make money at home working only a few hours a week, start a wine tasting business. This little-known home business is thoroughly enjoyable and packs a wallop when it comes to earning money. The kind of money you can make is up to you. But, consider this - for just 4 hours a week, you can bring home about US$31,200 a year. If you double your hours, you can double that take-home pay.

Here are three steps to help you make money in this home-based business:

1) Getting Started

Before you get started, check out the possibilities for wine tastings in your area. Wine tastings are usually held on weekends in private homes and clubs and at special events everywhere. They are seldom held in a restaurant. The host organizes the tasting and pays you for your service.

The current rates are $150 an hour for parties up to 20 people. Over that number, rates are negotiable. For large parties you may need to hire helpers. Include the amount you pay them in your hourly rate.

Advertise your business in the local paper. Pay a visit to clubs such as the Kiwanis Club and country clubs in your area. Be sure to speak to the manager and leave your brochure. Teach an adult education class about wine. Air a radio ad at night on the local stations.

2) On the Job

Prepare for the tasting by meeting with the host. He or she supplies the wine, food and glasses. The host also arranges for the white tablecloths, small paper spitting cups for the guests and several urns to empty the cups into.

For 20 guests, there should be about 30 bottles of wine. This includes six different types of wine with five bottles of each type. For a party of up to 20 guests, you can work from a long table and have the guests seated opposite you. For larger groups, the host should set up tables.

During the tasting, guests sample a particular wine from their glass. Fill the glass a quarter to a third full. Guests tip the glass away from them and examine the wine's color against the white tablecloth. They sniff the wine's aroma, take a sip and swirl it around in their mouth before spitting it into their paper cup. They then empty the cup into an urn.

Talk about the wine and where it comes from. Bring various corkscrews with you to show guests. Demonstrate how to decant wine with a decanter and candle.

3) After the Wine Tasting

Following the wine tasting, allow for questions. Here are some common questions followed by answers:

Q: What makes red wine red?

A: Red wine includes the skins, seeds and stems of the grape which turn the wine red.

Q: Why do you decant wine?

A: To check that the wine is clear and without settled particles.

Q: How can you tell a good corkscrew?

A: The most important part of the corkscrew is the "worm" or spiral. The worm should be hollow and have 4-5 spirals. The deeper the worm enters the cork the less likely it will break.

Q: Which is the most expensive corkscrew?

A: One made by Forge de Laguiole of France is the best. It lasts the longest but costs $150 to $190.

Q: Why are they using screwcaps today instead of corks?

A: Screwcaps shut oxygen out of the wine which is what you want because oxygen causes wine to spoil.

Q: Why is aged wine better?

Aging wine dulls the fruity flavor and leaves a more earthy tasting wine. At least 95% of wine does not need to be aged.

Q: Which wines go with which food?

A: Port is a heavy wine and goes well with dessert or alone. Merlot is a light wine and is delicious with a meal of chicken and salad. Cabernet is a little heavier than Merlot and goes well with steak, lamb, and pork. Pinot noir is a very light wine and is excellent with turkey, chicken, and duck. Beaujolais is a fruity, light wine and is good with fowl or dessert or alone.

Once word gets out about your wine tasting business, you may find yourself booked for many weekends. Start a wine tasting business now - before everyone else finds out how much fun it is and the amount of money you can make. http://ezinearticles.com/?Start-a-Wine-Tasting-Business-For-Thrills,-Spills,-and-Lots-of-Money&id=666492

How To Do A Fine Wine Tasting

Determining the quality of a wine is an art, and it is an art that everyone can learn. Here are a few, simple, basic ways to tell if you are tasting an excellent wine. More important, you can explain why you like or do not like a specific wine. This way you can really taste the wine, you can remember it,and you can determine if you want to continue drinking this wine.

Wine tasting involves five simple steps. Look at the wine, swirl it, smell it, taste it, then consider it.

Take a piece of white paper and a clear wine glass. Pour your wine into the glass. Notice that wine is poured up to the widest area of the glass. This gives the wine a change to breathe and release its aroma. Now, for either white or red white, look at its color. Check to see if it is clear. Any cloudiness may indicate unwanted bacterial activity. If the wine is too sparkly, that may indicate a secondary fermentation which you also want to avoid. If it has any hint of brown tinge, it has oxidized, and you will not want to drink it. Notice that white wine ranges in color from pale straw to true yellow to pale pink depending upon the type of wine and the grape or mixture of grapes used. Red wine can range from a deep, dark burgundy to a more transparent, almost translucent, yet still opaque color. Enjoy the color.

Next, swirl the wine around in the glass. The wine takes up about half the wine glass and has plenty of room to swirl. Swirling the wine allows it to release its aroma. Take a few deep breaths. What do you smell? You don't want anything with a hint of mold or fungus. Assuming your wine smells good, what are the odors you are picking up? Think of fruits, citrus, apple, plum or berries, green plants, or herbs, such as cinnamon, pepper. Perhaps it smells to you of coffee or tobacco or leather or minerals. Any of these are common wine aromas, arising from its place of origin-its earth or terroir.

Now for the big one. Taste the wine. Allow it to rest for a moment in your mouth. Feel the wine in your whole mouth. The tip of the tongue detects sweetness and the sides of the tongue acidity. The center of the tongue feels the weight of the wine-light, medium or full-bodied. Think of it like milk. Does it feel like skim, whole milk or cream? This is important because, among other things, the weight of the wine tells the alcohol content. Less for light, medium and then most alcoholic is full-bodied wine.

Your taste will also tell you about the acidity of the wine as well as the balance and smoothness. If you are tasting a red wine, then you must also consider the tannins, an astringent, bitter quality which can change texture in your mouth. Tannins can feel like velvet or suede or rough sandpaper. If you are puckering, it's possibly a cheap, rough wine. Good wine is smooth, though often feeling dry on your tongue.

At this point, you will realize that the smell of the wine hinted at its taste. If you smelled a whisper of mineral, do you taste it as well? Does the wine have a light, citrusy taste or a deep plummy taste? The experience of wine drinking is a total experience, involving the eyes, the nose and the mouth. For the wine to be memorable, all these sense are involved in a particularly notable way.

Now consider the wine you have just tasted. Could you remember this wine? Is it memorable in any way? Would you be willing to purchase it again? How much did you pay for the wine you are tasting? Is it worth it? http://ezinearticles.com/?How-To-Do-A-Fine-Wine-Tasting&id=5959103