Looking to throw off the January blues? Why don’t you get a little adventurous and hold a blind wine tasting?
Blind wine tasting
The Ideal Wine Company has previously suggested that if you want to try a different take on traditional wine tasting, you can always host a vertical tasting. This is where you ask attendees to sample different vintages from the same wine producer in year order (youngest – oldest or vice versa). This allows them to explore how a wineries’ products change from one year to the next.
However if you’re looking to introduce guests to completely new bottles, you might want to throw a blind wine tasting instead. This is exactly what you think it is; a tasting where nobody knows what they’re drinking. This allows everybody to leave their sight behind and gauge the flavour of wine using nothing but smell and taste, so they can truly determine the quality of the product.
Hosting tips
Over time, blind wine tasting allows you to develop the skills you need to become a true wine expert – one who knows their Malbec from their Pinot Noir with just a single sip. Here are a few tips you can use to throw a blind wine tasting of your very own.
- Bring a bottle: If you want to make sure nobody knows what they’re drinking, get everybody to bring their own bottle. Ensure that nobody tells anybody else what they’ve brought, so that they’re all surprised when they sip each other’s’ choices.
- Invest in bags: We’d strongly suggest you put the different wines into bottle bags. This will allow you to ensure that nobody knows what they’re tasting, not even the person who brought the bottle, before they lift the glass to their lips to take their first sip.
- Blindfold guests: Do you want to maintain secrecy at all times? If so, ask everyone to don a blindfold before they sip, so they really don’t know what they’re drinking. Make sure one person can see so they can pour everyone else’s drinks without spilling anything!
- Provide tasting notes: Beginners won’t be able to identify a Chateau Lafite Rothschild 1974 after one sip. Ask everyone to bring tasting notes along, so they can research vintages after they taste them to find out just what they’ve been supping!
- Have fun: At the end of the day, you won’t enjoy a blind wine tasting if you don’t have a little fun. Despite popular stereotypes, wine tasting isn’t just for the rich and super uptight. Do everything you can when hosting a blind tasting to make sure everyone has a good time, so they’ll grow to appreciate your favourite tipple as much as you do!
Try it out
Does a blind wine tasting sound fun? Why don’t you try it out for yourself this January and throw a killer event? We have the perfect bottle for you to bring to a blind wine tasting as well. Buy the Harlan Estate 1998, a hearty Californian red, from the Ideal Wine Company today, to wow your friends with a truly stellar vintage at your next blind wine tasting!
