How to Host a Blind Wine Tasting

Select a Theme

So with my handy guidebook and tastefully designed wine-scoring sheets in hand, I plotted a theme for a blind tasting.  According to my guide, here are a few ways a tasting can be organized:

  • By Region: (from a specific country, region, state or city)

  • By Types/Varietal: (wines from the same grape such as: Chardonnays from California)

  • Wineries: same wine type and winery from different vintages (years), or wines all from the same wineries

  • Pairings: Wines and chocolate (heck yes); wines and food from the same country; wines for holiday meals

  • Just for fun: Pretty labels; fun names; three thrifty and three expensive wines; Wines for Tailgating; Boxed Wines

Clearly themes can be as numerous as your research and imagination will allow. I decided to plan our tasting around the theme Here and Abroad. I thought this would be a fun time to give Winc a try. Winc is a California-based wine club that evaluates your taste preferences and ships four bottles tailored to your tastes straight to your door. I liked that most bottles are in the $13 price range, enabling us to sample some unique wines at a good value. (That’s my affiliate link.)

As someone who now appreciates semi-dry reds over the sweet whites of yesterday, I placed my order for four semi-dry reds and planned to fill in the gaps later. But here’s where my plan hit a snag, and you shall see the shallow depth of my wine knowledge. I thought we would sample two red blends, two Zinfindels and two Cabernets. Buuuuut Zinfindels are produced only from the California-grown Zinfindel grape, thus precluding my Here and Abroad theme.  Clearly a rookie mistake.

Armed with my new knowledge, I visited our favorite local wine shop, Red Door Wine Store, and presented my plea for help. The owner explained to me the difference between a Syrah and Shiraz. Both wines come from essentially the same type of grape but the difference in the name belies grape’s provenance. Shiraz is typically produced in Australia and Syrah in France. But US winemakers have also adopted the Syrah name, so I selected an Australian Shiraz and a Syrah from Lodi, California to round out our tasting.

Blind Tasting Logistics

The day of the tasting (But I’d advise completing this task a few days earlier), I prepared food as David researched and typed descriptions of each wine. For himself, the host, he created a list with each wine’s name and description. For guests, he printed off only the wine descriptions. We wrapped bottles in brown butcher paper and labeled bottles A through F.

As each wine was poured and tasted, guests took note of the wine’s appearance, aroma, body, taste and finish. They perused the correct wine descriptions they’d been given and tried to match them up with wines A through F. Wines that appealed less were discarded in an empty pitcher on the table (or were offered to a less-discerning spouse or friend). Each guest sipped water to cleanse the palate between wines and enjoyed cheese, crackers and fruit during the pairing.

Tasting Favorites

During the tasting, I starred my favorites and indicated down arrows for my least favorites. In the end, we unveiled the bottles and guests reviewed their scorecard to determine how many they had guessed correctly. My favorite (pictured below) was the 2013 6th Sense Syrah, a thick-bodied and inky dark wine with tame tannins and aromas of clove cedar and cinnamon from Michael David Winery. In my opinion, super good and since it’s available at Red Door for under $15 a bottle, one we will surely buy again.  I also really liked the 2015 Rosa Obsucra Red Blend, a full-bodied wine with notes of cherry, cocoa and strawberry that I would purchase again from Winc.

I would love to continue to expand my wine knowledge through travel and future tastings. Do you have a favorite bottle you’d recommend?

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