Creado en Casa: La Maestría de Organizar una Degustación de Vinos

Hosting a tasting at home doesn't require you to be a sommelier, just a little organisation and a wish to share. With a few simple guidelines you can turn any dinner into an evening to remember.

Choose a common thread

A tasting gains a lot when the bottles have something in common to compare. You can focus on the same variety from different regions, on several vintages from the same winery, or on a journey through different denominations. Four or five wines are enough; any more tires the palate and dilutes your attention.

The order matters

Serve from least to most intense so that no wine overwhelms the next. The usual approach is to start with light whites, move on to young reds, continue with aged wines and finish with the most powerful or sweet. Medium-sized glasses, filled only a third of the way, so you can swirl the wine and smell it properly.

• Whites and sparkling wines nicely chilled, to open things up.
• Young reds at cellar temperature, neither lukewarm nor warm.
• Aged and sweet wines at the end, once the palate is warmed up.

Set the scene

Natural or neutral light to appreciate the colour, a pale tablecloth, and water and bread on hand to cleanse the palate between wines. Avoid strong perfumes and heavily spiced dishes during the tasting: they mask the aromas. If you like, serve some mild cheeses and nuts, which almost always work in your favour.

Guide the conversation

There's no need for technical language. Encourage each guest to describe what they smell and what it reminds them of, even if they're everyday things. Look at the colour, swirl the glass, smell before you taste and comment out loud. The fun lies in comparing impressions, not in finding the right answer.

Little touches that add up

A blind tasting with the labels covered to strip away prejudice, a small card to score each wine, or a token prize for the table's favourite. And if the tasting leaves you wanting more, the natural next step is to visit the source: here's what a visit to a winery is like, so you can experience it first-hand.