So this is a great party that I have done for my wine friends; here's how it works:
I really like to isolate only one variable to make the tasting more of a conversation starter. We'll do this one on price, but there are more suggestions below. Ask everyone to bring a 750ml bottle of wine at a certain price point ($13-15, for instance). Instruct your guests to stay within one varietal (Sauvignon Blanc for instance) or flavor profile (crisp, unoaked, white). You provide a bottle that is significantly higher in price (say $35). Put them all in numbered brown bags (of course you'll need to record which bottle is in which bag, but keep it to yourself).
Hand out pieces of paper (if you want to go "overachiever" on this you can print them out with the numbers and lines for "notes" and a ranking of 1-x, the number of bottles you are tasting). Give everyone a glass and have them rank each wine and make notes. Tell them that there is one wine that is much pricier than the rest, and let them speculate.
The reveal is the fun part. I ask each guest to reveal one bottle. Entertaining guesses as to which is which before-hand is really fun too. It's hilarious to see who gets what right. I've done this several times where not one guest has correctly guessed the expensive bottle.
Here are some more ideas:
*Everyone brings a bottle of merlot, for instance, and you research snacks that bring out the different flavor aspects of that varietal. Make tasting notes according to how the wine tastes with the different snacks. You may be surprised how food can completely change the taste of wine!
This is a good resource for food pairing purposes: http://www.gayot.com/wine/pairing/appetizers.html
If you have a more casual crowd (they like potato chips and salsa more than bacon wrapped dates), try this one http://archive.supermarketguru.com/page.cfm/page.cfm/283
*Each guest brings a different varietal (you assign). Brown bag them and try to guess which bottle is made from which grape. This idea is great to bring wine experts down to earth, and an approachable way to let wine novices try a spectrum of wine without any preconceived notions.
*If you have an expert crowd, focus on wines from one country (preferably not USA for interest's sake), or even one region. You can provide snacks inspired by that part of the world. Chile would be fun, for instance, or even the Loire Valley in France.
Cheers- and happy tasting!
Cheers- and happy tasting!
