Just because you don’t have a significant other doesn’t mean you need to stay at home alone. Plan a wine tasting party for yourself and your single friends. It’s really quite simple to pull together.
If you’re single and have no plans for Valentine’s Day, why not have fun with all of your single friends by having them over for a wine tasting party? You don’t have to be a wine connoisseur — after all, you’ll learn more about wine as you host your tasting. We share some key tips to make it a successful evening for you and your friends.
Focus on a region or a type of wine
When you go to the liquor store, you can easily become overwhelmed with all the choices, so a simple way to choose wines for your wine tasting is to focus on a particular type of wine or a particular region. If the friends you’re having over all know one another and you’ve travelled together, it might be fun to select a region you backpacked through together.
Serve the appropriate food
With everyone consuming wine, you’ll need to serve food at your party. Ask guests to bring an appetizer to share, or offer a simple menu of cheese and charcuterie boards. If you’ve chosen wines from a particular region, serving cheeses or appetizers that centre on that same region is a classy touch.
Decide the party’s format
Do you want your wine tasting party to be a sit-down affair or one at which your guests get to mingle? If your guest list has grown a fair bit, the standing-and-mingling format might give your party a better flow, as everyone will be able to get to know one another.
Purchase the wine in advance
Don’t leave picking up the wines to the last minute; you’ll surely have other hosting duties you’ll be rushing to take care of (you know how it is to host!). Plan for one bottle of wine to serve 12 people if you pour 2 ounces per glass.
Plan for your guests to get home safely
Finally, make sure ahead of time that people have made the proper arrangements to get home safe and sound. Have local taxi company phone numbers handy, and invite friends who have a farther trek home to spend the night in your guest room or on your couch if they want to.
Include entertainment and activities
If you’re not keen on throwing a formal wine tasting, plan a variety of activities for the evening. Watch movies from or about the region from which the wine you’re drinking comes (make a drinking game out of it, such as everyone enjoys a sip when a character in the movie does a certain something), or create a playlist of lively music from the region. Even better, make a game out of the wine tasting itself: Have your friends write down what they think is on label of each bottle of wine they taste, and give out small prizes to the person whose notes for each wine are closest to the actual wine descriptions on the bottle.
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