Wine nights are a great way to relax and enjoy the company of good friends with classy and unique fares. The wine is obviously the star of the show, but there are some different things you can do to make sure your wine night is exceptional.
Here are ten fun wine night ideas with friends and family:
Idea #1: Have a variety of wines
Depending on the number of people attending, buying a good mix of red wines and white wines (and even rose or port wines) will ensure everyone finds something that pleases their palette. Do this with the food too. Variety is a great way to make sure everyone is happy.
Idea #2: Be conscious of pairing
Wines will often enhance certain flavours, and certain flavours will enhance the taste of wine. Be conscious about what the wines you are offering are, and what foods are available to go with. You could even make recommendations as to what foods go with what wines. People don’t necessarily have to follow the rules strictly, but at least they know what ideally goes with what.
Idea #3: Wine temperature matters
Each wine is best served at a certain temperature – the bottle will usually say. The standard is that red wines are served less chilled, white wines in the middle, and bubbly wines very chilled.
Idea #4: Move the furniture
Not everybody’s home is ideal for a wine night. However, one thing that people often don’t consider is to get really creative with moving the furniture around to best accommodate the group
Idea #5: Keep the party small
Things can get out of hand if you invite too many people. If you’re looking for the ultimate intimate wine night experience, you may want to keep the guest count somewhere around 10 or fewer. That’s not a hard number, but any more than that makes the group harder to manage.
Idea #6: Spread out the party space
In tandem with creative furniture placement is to try to spread out the fares around the room. Guests tend to crowd the good stuff, so make sure there are things all around the common space to encourage moving and mingling.
Idea #7: Serve wine in courses
Different wines serve different purposes. You may opt for serving your wines in courses, and with different foods, to help give each guest the full experience of each wine they try.
Idea #8: Use wine labels
Label all of the cheeses, meats, and other appetizers. There are many different ways to do this. One way is to create little tags that stick onto a toothpick or skewer, and poke them into each item. Another way is to get a blackboard and lay out each item on the blackboard, writing its label in the spot beside. There is lots of space for creativity here.
Idea #9: Make a game on wine night
Here’s a fun idea. Cover the label of each bottle of wine, and give them each a number. Give each guest a score card of some kind, and let them rate the wines based only on taste, and nothing else. At the end of the party, you can reveal each bottle and see what people appreciated most.
This is a fun way to do wine tasting, as it lets people forget their own preconceptions of what they prefer, and allows them to explore new wines they may not have previously tried.
Idea #10: Have a wine night theme
There are different ways you could theme a wine night. You could choose wines from a certain region, or one type of wine from different regions. You could select a variety of wines from one price point, or you could theme it around trying wines from the cheapest to most expensive. It’s a fun way to introduce your guests to new wines.
