A Guide to Wine Tasting at Home

By Laura Cunniffe
host a wine tasting at home

Polish the glasses and send the invites. A wine tasting at home is one of the best ways to spend a cold evening, and a good excuse to work through the DrinkWell range. Here is how to run one properly.

Pick a theme

A theme narrows down your wine choices and sets the mood. Two that work every time:

  • Wines of the World. One bottle from each region: French rosé, Italian white, Spanish red, New Zealand Sauvignon, South African Shiraz.
  • Zero Sugar Showdown. Five styles, all confirmed at 0g sugar. Your guests taste-test to pick a favourite.

Either makes for a good evening, especially when you reveal the calorie and sugar figures alongside each wine.

Order your wines from DrinkWell

Five or six bottles gives you enough variety without tiring the palate. Build your line-up from one of the cases below, or mix individual bottles by region or style.

Cases:

  • Popular Pinot Grigio Case: six Italian Pinot Grigios, all confirmed 0g sugar, from 80 kcal.
  • Pure Provence Rosé Case: six dry Provence-style rosés, from 69 kcal.
  • Mixed wine cases: red, white, rosé and sparkling in one delivery.
  • Smarter Sauvignon Blanc Case: six Sauvignons across French, Chilean and Marlborough styles.

Individual bottles to build your own line-up:

Prepare the nibbles

Keep it simple. A charcuterie board does the job: a few cheeses, cured meats, olives, nuts, and fresh bread or crackers. Add grapes or figs for sweetness, and dark chocolate to pair with the reds. Steer clear of anything heavily spiced or strongly flavoured, as it competes with the wine. The wine is the star.

Set the scene

Dim the lights, light a few candles, and put on something low-key like jazz or acoustic. Print a tasting card for each wine with the name, region, grape variety, ABV and calories, and leave space for guests to score it on appearance, aroma, flavour and finish. Save the nutrition data for the end. The calorie comparisons against standard supermarket bottles tend to surprise people.

Get tasting

Start light and build up. The order that works: sparkling, light white, fuller white, rosé, light red, fuller red. Pour 50 to 75ml per person per wine. Between each one, reset the palate with water, plain bread or a plain cracker.

Shop DrinkWell wine cases

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