Most people who love fine wine love to talk about which wines they love the most and why. If you host a wine party, you will give your wine loving friends a forum for sharing and discussing wine favorites.



You have many options when you host a tasting party as to what types of wine you will taste at your party. You can choose to taste several wines that fit into a theme, such as wines that are French or coastal wines.

The group of wines or flight of wines that you select for your tasting party will set the tone for the entire evening, so you will want to give the matter considerable thought before choosing the type of flight you wish to offer.

Often, people choose vertical flights in which every wine offered is of the same varietals from the same winemaker but each wine a different vintage. Just as often, people choose horizontal flights in which you taste the same vintage and varietals but from several different winemakers.

If you choose a horizontal flight, you can choose to offer wines from winemakers strictly from one geographical region or you can choose to offer wines from winemakers from anywhere in the world. For example, you can choose to offer a flight of 2002 Shiraz wines only from Padthaway, or you can choose to offer a flight of 2002 Shiraz wines from all over Australia or from California or from France. Indeed, you could choose your flight of 2002 Shiraz wines from a sampling of many wine regions around the world.

If you choose a vertical flight, you will choose only one wine maker and one variety of grape, but you will choose different years that the maker made the wine. For example, you might choose to offer a flight of Penfolds RWT Shiraz. Of this wine, your flight could consist of the 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004. While this flight might be a tad expensive, your guests would be very reluctant to turn down an invitation to such a tasting party.

Of course, you do not have to follow any rules about varietals and vintages when you host a tasting party. You might choose three white wines and three red wines to taste based on the wines that you find to be the most pleasing to your palate.

Regardless of the type of flight you offer, you should know a few other things before hosting your tasting party. You will want to pair some sort of cheese or hors d'oeurves with each wine in order to enhance the tasting experience. You should also provide bread and water between wines so that your guests can clear their palates between selections.