How to Throw a Wine Tasting Party

1. Put together your group and pick a regular meeting date.

2. Set a budget and pick a wine to focus on. Have everyone buy a bottle in a certain price range or chip in money and let the host buy all the bottles. Chardonnay is a great place to begin because there are so many options for themes.

3. Before people arrive, the host should bag the bottles or cover them with foil and number them. This is called blind tasting, and it helps you to focus on the wine without any preconceived ideas of place, price, or producer.

4. Set out spit buckets, which can be anything from paper cups to plastic buckets, and glasses.

5. Make tasting sheets for each wine. Note the color, aromas, flavors, and overall impressions of each unidentified bottle of wine. After the bag or foil is removed, record the name of the producer, the type of wine, the country and region it came from, the year it was made, the cost of a bottle, and the foods you think it would go well with.

6. Put out some nibbles and start smelling, swirling, spitting, and tasting.

Discussion Questions for a Wine Tasting Party

1. "Good wine tastes like a grape, but great wine tastes like a place." Based on the wines you've just tasted, can you speculate on the kinds of growing conditions of the different grapes? (For example, is the region very hot, relatively cool, near the coast, redolent of minerals, etc.?)

2. Think about white wines that you've enjoyed. How does a Chardonnay from Napa Valley, California, compare to a Riesling from Germany? How does a Sauvignon Blanc from France compare to a Gewürztraminer from Washington state?

3. Leslie Sbrocco writes that pairing delicate foods with delicate wines and big foods with big wines is the easiest way to think of meal planning. Have you enjoyed foods with wines in combinations that you found especially inspired? What were they? Do certain wines remind you of certain foods? Which ones?

4. What's the best surprise you've ever had when tasting wine? Was the most or least expensive bottle of wine you've ever had the best or worst, respectively? What is your "house" wine?

5. What is your biggest frustration in buying wine or ordering it when you're out at a restaurant? Has Wine for Women helped you conquer that frustration? Do you feel more confident about your ability to choose a good wine as a result of reading this book?

6. How useful did you find the core words used by Leslie Sbrocco to describe individual wines? Are you able to distinguish between dryness and sweetness, crispness and smoothness, and light- to medium- to full-body in the wines you've tasted? Are there any wines you drink regularly that you think are particularly easy to assess using these core words?

7. Were any of the wines discussed in this book completely new to you? Do you have a short-list of wines that you are eager to try? What are they? Has this book made you more willing to experiment with unfamiliar wines? Why or why not?

8. What is your favorite grape variety? Is there a particular region or wine producer that you think showcases that wine especially well? What do you usually pair it with when you're cooking or eating out? Compare your personal favorites with those of your friends. Host a "personal favorite" wine party, where each friend brings her favorite bottle of wine to taste and share.