‘Tis the season for SF State partygoers and planners to begin filling in their
calendars with scheduled celebrations and get-togethers.

The balance between making a good impression on friends, while making the
party fun is something many prospective hosts take into consideration when
organizing a holiday get-together.

With a plethora of party themes available to choose from, a host may choose to
throw a wine tasting affair.

“I don’t drink wine because I don’t know how to pick them out,” said Ariel
Bloomberg, a senior in business. “I would go to a wine tasting party in a heartbeat, if just to learn the difference between chardonnay and cabernet.”

There are a few simple rules that will benefit anyone thinking of hosting such a get-together.

First, make sure that your guests know that the only alcohol at this party is wine. This will give your beer guzzling friends fair warning to R.S.V.P. with a “thanks, but no thanks” if they are not interested in trying something new. In turn, it will keep you from having an unsatisfied guest at your holiday party, and from wasting good wine.

Second, decide on a theme for your party. Choosing amoungst the limitless varieties of wines from around the world can be daunting. Make it easy on yourself by picking a few different wines from the same vineyard and same year. For example, you can have five different red wines from Ridge Vineyards 2002. Or pick two different vineyards; three different red wines from Napa Valley and three different red wines from Sonoma County. You can even serve two white and two red wines from California and two white and two red wines from Bordeaux.

Third, you can decide on providing all of the wine, or have each guest bring a
bottle. Just remember to clue them into your theme. It is also a good idea to set a price range so that someone doesn’t show up with a $3.99 bottle of wine when the rest of the guests are providing a $40 bottle. This will also help keep the quality of wine uniform.

Fourth, be sure to provide snacks. Nuts, various regional cheeses, crackers and fruit (grapes and sliced apples) are easy to prepare and go well with any wine.

Lastly, note cards describing the vineyard and characteristics of the wine will
assist your guests in knowing what to expect when tasting each wine.

“It takes training to develop a pallet for wine,” said Fran Lightly, winemaker and
owner of the Diablo Grande Wine Gallery. “In your planning, you need to first take into consideration your guest’s level of experience to wine drinking.”

Lightly said that throwing a wine tasting party is the perfect alternative to the
usual holiday get-together. He also noted that although people in their early twenties are used to drinking soft drinks and beer, there are plenty of sweeter wines available that are acceptable to their taste buds.

“A wine tasting party is a great way to wean an inexperienced wine drinker off
carbonated drinks and soda,” said Lightly, whose SOMA facility holds an art
gallery and wine tasting bar. “They usually start with white zinfandels and sweeter champagnes until they become more experienced wine drinkers.”

Sandra Menendez, a junior majoring in psychology, said that she prefers mixed alcoholic beverages to wine because she does not like the bitter taste of most wines.

“I’ve tried wine a few times,” said Menendez as she scrunched up her face in disapproval. “But if there are fruitier ones out there, I guess a wine tasting party is a good way to try ‘em out.”

Wine experts suggest that it is important that guests of wine tasting parties
be of the same knowledge and experience. This is so guests don’t feel inundated with information or lectured about the various types of wine and the process it takes to make it.

“There is no right or wrong way to taste wine,” said Lightly. “And we don’t tell
people what they should be tasting. We simply tell them there are particular
characteristics present in the wine, such as aromas and flavors. Depending on the level of experience to wine drinking, it may mean they don’t experience anything present in a particular wine.”

For the inexperienced wine crowds, Lightly said, the host should choose more white wines than reds because reds are more tart and dry due to tannins – a natural chemical in the skin of red grapes that cause the wine to taste dryer. After pouring one ounce of each wine the host should inform the guests of the characteristics present in the wine. Do this for each bottle. He says that this will take approximately 30 minutes, after which, the guests should mingle and be allowed to further experience the wines on their own.

“I don’t like wine…at all,” said Petra Lopper, a junior majoring in political science. “It would definitely be good if one of my friends had one of those party’s to mention ahead of time that wine was the only alcohol being served. I’d probably still go, but at least I wouldn’t show up disappointed that I couldn’t get an apple martini or cosmo.”

Viviian Browne, leasing consultant at an upscale apartment building in San Francisco, said that she hosts a weekly wine tasting party for her residents as a way for them to get to know each other.

“It’s the most casual and easy going, yet elegant way to get everyone together,” said Browne, as she opens five bottles of cabernets from Napa Valley. “At each table I have two bottles of the same wine with a little note card that gives a brief history of the vineyard and the characteristics of the wine. The tenants love it because a lot of them are business travelers or from other states and this is a good way to introduce them to California wines.”

Browne said that at least 50 tenants with varying degrees of wine experience
attend her weekly parties in the fifth-floor community room every Friday night after work.

“We wouldn’t have them if they weren’t popular,” said Browne, as she organizes
various cheese platters. “And people of all ages – legal of course – attend.”

There is checklist of party supplies needed for your wine tasting shindig.

First, Be sure to have several bottles of water on hand so that your guests can swish their mouths clear before the next taste of wine. Water is also helpful if you only have one glass per person-- as opposed to a new glass for each guest to use for each different wine they will taste that evening.

It is also a good idea to have a few buckets on hand so your guests can rinse
their glass with the bottled water, as well as to spit in should they absolutely not want to swallow a particular wine.

12-ounce wine glasses are the standard used for wine tasting, however, there are no official shapes, capacities, sizes or color of wine glasses.

And finally, blank note cards and pencils for your guests to write down the wines they prefer will help them remember their favorites the next time they serve wine or go to a wine tasting party.

Catherine Ross, a dance instructor from Oakland said she plans a wine
tasting party for a few girlfriends to start the holiday season.

“I do this every year,” said Ross, as she shops for several bottles of deep purple
and merlot wines at Vino Venue, also in SOMA . “This place is amazing. You can taste the wine before you purchase it, so if you want to try something new, before spending $40 a bottle, you can taste an ounce for $2.”

Ross said that she and her friends go holiday gift shopping the day after
Thanksgiving, then retreat to her house for a wine-drinking-gift-wrapping party.

“It’s a ritual,” said Ross. “It is so much more fun to drink wine at home than
cosmos. We save the hard stuff for happy-hour.”