Wine Tasting- Create one at home for $25 or less!

First you need to decide if you want to do a "Vertical Tasting" (wines of the same type from a single winery), a "Horizontal Tasting" (wines from the same year), or you could also pick your favorite grape and do all one varietal. Or you can do what I do and get whatever is on sale- that is fine too. Once you pick your tasting event's style, now you need to decide whether you want to do a more casual tasting or a more formal tasting. And when I say "casual" and "formal" I am not talking about what people will be wearing.

Casual
For a more casual atmosphere, you can pop the corks, pass out the glasses and start sipping. Discussion about the different wines is sure to follow. To be more organized, you could give everyone a notepad and paper for notes or have some pre-written questions to ask to get the discussion going.

Formal
A more formal tasting takes quite a bit more preparation, but is a lot more thought provoking. In advance, create a tasting "menu.". List each wine, the grape, the year, the area in which it was grown and so on. If you will be drinking some french wines with all the complicated labels, you may need to do a bit of research as to how to list them. I also like to add a little blurb from the label or from other people's tastings online. Lastly, add a few blank lines for your guest's own notes. Pass these out prior to opening the bottles. Open one bottle at a time, pour an ounce or two into each glass and let the tasting begin.

Other Info
Each wine bottle should serve at least 10 guests with a decent sized tasting. At $3-$4 a bottle, you should be able to serve everyone at least 5-6 different wines. If you can get an even better bargain and keep it at $3 a bottle, you will be able to serve 5 to 6 wines plus a couple of bricks of interesting cheeses (havarti, aged cheddar or brie go well with wine.) Remember to taste the wines in an order so that one wine does not overpower the next. The order I see most often in Wineries is- white wines, roses, light reds, bold reds, champagne and lastly, port.