How to Host a Blind Wine Tasting Party

There are plenty of ways to do a blind tasting event, and the ones you'll prefer will likely depend on your level of winespertice (that’s a portmanteau of wine-expertise). That is to say the level of silliness or professionality you'll desire.

For us, we like things a bit silly and fun, and just want to figure out which types of wines we actually prefer. No surprise, many people never really do any sort of scientific blind-taste-testing to find out things like: do I like cabs or pinots better? Do I like dry wines? Do I like expensive or cheaper wines? Prepare to find out those answers you seek.

The basic setup is this: you invite a group of friends over for a tasting around the fire and everybody brings one or two bottles, a cheapo or a fancy wine, doesn't matter. When they all arrive, you wrap aluminum foil around the bottles to hide the labels (numbering them so you can reference), put out your spitoon, and give everyone a glass and a notepad to take notes.

You should group wines by weight— it wouldn't be a great idea to put a heavy bordeaux next to a chardonnay—taste light-colored wines first, followed by the reds. Serve dessert wines last. Pour each person a taste of a wine, take notes and compare thoughts on it, and then move on! It's as simple as that. Afterwards, tear off the foil and reveal the winners.

Beware: you may be drinking a lot of wine. If you don't want to get too tipsy (which may or may not color your appreciation of the later wines), be sure to provide a spitoon for your guests.

Click here to download our printable scorecard, and enjoy your party by the fire!