Everything You Need to Throw a Wine Tasting Party

Sips about to go down!

Friends enjoying a glass of wine together

Photo: Studio Firma | Stocksy

Updated May 02, 2024

Celebrating a bride-to-be who's a total oenophile? A wine tasting party might be just the thing when it comes time for her bachelorette party or bridal shower. This festive event is sure to be fun for everyone involved, and there are so many unique ways you can throw this type of party.

Good news: You don't have to be a wine connoisseur yourself in order to successfully pull off an amazing wine tasting party. We're here to help with some of our favorite wine tasting party ideas! Because what's more fun than getting tipsy together while tasting new blends?

What Is a Wine Tasting Party?
What You Need to Host a Wine-Tasting Party
Wine Tasting Party Menu
How to Organize Your Wine Tasting Party

What Is a Wine Tasting Party?

A wine tasting party at home is exactly what it sounds like—a great way to gather the bride's bestie squad and sample lots of different wines. Of course, you can serve food as well: think hors d'oeuvres, appetizers or even bite-sized desserts depending on the time of day your party will take place. You could use a wine tasting party as its own bridal shower theme (we've got some great ideas to share below!), or simply make the wine tasting a part of your themed event.

One of the best things about a wine sampling party is that you can make it as grand or as intimate as you'd like. There are home wine tasting companies, like Sommelier Company, that can help you every step of the way, or even provide you with your very own sommelier for your event. Or you can use The Knot Vendor Marketplace to find a bartender in your area. Hoping to pull off a DIY wine tasting? Keep it simple by purchasing a variety of wines and using an app like Vivino to gather information and ratings for each wine you'll be serving.

What You Need to Host a Wine-Tasting Party

First, you'll need to decide how serious things are going to get when it comes to the vino. If you're part of a tribe of diehard vinophiles, you could hand out printable wine score cards that allow all your guests to make notes about each blend, and give it a rating as well.

You can skip the scorecards if you're more interested in simply serving a variety of wines for your guests to sip during the event. But cute personalized wine charms would sure be a hit! Below, we've outlined everything you'll need to throw a memorable at-home wine tasting party.

Wine

At the top of your shopping list for your at-home wine tasting party is the wine, of course! To keep your tasting balanced yet fairly diverse, choose a variety of wine within a specific category. This will also prove to be educational, which is always fun as you'll be able to sample several wines of the same caliber. If you want to do all white wines, focus on a particular country—say, Italy, Australia or Chile. Or you can combine the country and grape and serve all French chardonnays or California merlots. Try one of the options listed below to create a perfect selection:

Strictly reds
All whites
A mix of reds and whites
Choose one consistent trait
Wines from the same country
Wines from the same grape
Wines from the same year

Wondering how much wine to buy for a wine sampling party? It comes down to your guest list. While there are guidelines for how much wine to buy for traditional parties, a wine tasting party works a bit differently. According to ABC Fine Wine & Spirits, you can serve roughly 4 to 5 glasses of wine per bottle. If your guests are just sampling each wine though, you might be able to double that number to about 8 glasses per bottle. But remember - your guests might desire a full glass of their favorite blend after they've sampled all the wines you present, so you'll want to account for that possibility.

We recommend offering your guests five or six different blends to sample, then having extra bottles on hand for refills. So if you'll be inviting 24 guests and serving six different wines, you'll need three bottles of each just for sampling (24 guests/8 sample glasses per bottle = 3 bottles). Then you might want to have between 6 and 8 additional bottles on hand (24 guests/4 glasses per bottle = 6 bottles) for refills.

Wine Glasses

Next up - wine glasses! If you have your own glassware, it's totally fine to use it for your DIY wine tasting party. Or, check out The Knot Shop for personalized wine glasses that could double as party favors or wedding party gifts. Here are a few options to consider:

Personalized Plastic Nesting Wine Glasses

This plastic wine glass features a removable stem for easy portability - clutch when you're headed from party to party! It's fully customizable with lots of different color and font options.

$20 | The Knot Shop

Modern Plastic Wine Glasses

We love this set of six plastic wine glasses for the chic, modern shape of each glass. They're squared off at the bottom and rest atop a slender stem for a contemporary look.

$17 for 6 | Amazon

Printouts/Activity Sheets

There are lots of fun ways you can encourage your guests to sample the wines you've chosen for your wine tasting party. Etsy is a great place to find fun printables that fit with your party theme.

Rose Gold Wine Party Printables

These 4x6 cards feature rose gold and floral details, allowing guests to take notes about each blend's appearance, aroma, body, taste and finish. Cards can be printed at home using this digital download from Etsy shop Olice Party Printables.

$10 | Etsy

Wine Tasting Printables

This printable pack from Etsy shop Tasting Society has everything you'll need to pull off an amazing DIY wine tasting. A comprehensive tasting guide will ensure everyone leaves with more knowledge than they came with, and a sampler card allows guests to sample, rank and make notes on six different varieties. This set certainly takes the guesswork out of hosting a wine tasting bridal shower.

$8 | Etsy

Signage

While certainly not a requirement, a fancy sign is a great way to create a cohesive look for your at-home wine tasting party. Create your own, use a chalkboard or a letterboard, or purchase a customizable sign for your event.

Wine Tasting Sign

This classy sign will look just right nestled on your bridal shower brunch table. Available as a digital download in either 8x10 or 11x14 sizes, this sign states "wine tasting" in a fancy cursive font and features two wine glasses at the bottom.

$5 | Etsy

Wine Tasting Welcome Sign

This fully editable digital download welcomes your guests with a festive font and a bottle of bubbly. Available in five sizes, this sign is perfectly sized for an easel and can be placed anywhere you'd like as your guests arrive at your wine tasting bachelorette party or bridal shower.

$11 | Etsy

Wine Charms

Mixed up wine glasses are never fun, neither is providing a new cup each time guests set their glass down and forget which belongs to whom. Wine charms are a cute way to add a dash of personality—and convenience—to a bridal shower wine tasting party.

Personalized Wire Wine Charms

How clever are these personalized wine charms? They're made of wire (choose from three festive wire colors) and twisted into each guest's name for a customized addition to their wine glasses. There's no chance your guests will lose their glasses when you hand these out!

$7 | Etsy

Initial Wine Glass Charms

This set of initial charms from Amazon comes with everything you need to provide your guests with a wine glass charm that helps them keep track of their glass during the party. You'll get two of each letter of the alphabet in both white and black, along with gold hoops that will secure the charm to the base of the glass.

$9 | Amazon

Decor

When you're setting up a wine tasting party at home, you might want to decorate your space in a festive way to celebrate the bride to be. Lucky for you, we've got a few cool wine party decorations to spark your creative juices!

Burgundy Lanterns

This generous set of paper poms and lanterns comes in hues of burgundy, gold and white: the perfect aesthetic for a wine-themed party. With more than 16 pieces, there's ample decorating options here.

$17 | Amazon

Wine Bottle Tissue Decorations

This 3-piece set of wine bottle decorations is the perfect finishing touch for your at-home wine tasting party. Display these in a doorway or snag several for a festive vibe.

$5 | Amazon

Wine Not Banner

What's a party without a banner? There are so many cute wine-themed banners with tongue-in-cheek sayings to choose from. But we love this black, minimalist banner that simply proclaims, "Wine not?" Because, why not?

$8 | Etsy

If you're wondering how to host a wine tasting party, know that it's best to serve food following the official wine-tasting portion of the event, as some foods may alter the wine's taste. If you're going for a casual cocktail style bridal shower or bachelorette party, have lite bites out as everyone sips. Hoping to cut down on the legwork? Head over to The Knot Vendor Marketplace to find a great caterer in your area.

Try these culinary combos as part of your wine tasting party menu:

Salty snacks
Spanish olives and almonds
Charcuterie grazing table with smoked gouda, brie, assorted crackers and chorizo
Mini pizza bar with assorted toppings
Cookies, brownies, cupcakes or cake
Fondue bar with fruit, breads, desserts

How to Organize Your Wine Tasting Party

Ready to organize your party itinerary? To get started, pour each guest a flight of wine. Depending on the number of bottles you have, a flight usually consists of four to six wines. If you have eight wines, you can do two flights. You'll want to use clear wine glasses so guests can easily see the color of each wine (see our suggestions above), then line up the wine-filled glasses from light to dark. And, make sure to serve your wines at the proper temperature using the guidelines below:

White: 50 degrees (let a pre-chilled bottle sit out for 30 minutes)
Red: 65 degrees (just pop it in the fridge for 30 minutes)

Now for the fun part! The actual tasting can be broken down into four simple steps:

See: Check out the color of the wine and compare its color to the
others in your flight. Is it dark? Light? Translucent?
Swirl: Hold your glass by the stem and gently give it a swirl. This will allow the wine's aroma to open up.
Sniff: Put your nose into the glass and take a big sniff. Take note of what you smell: Toffee? Herbs? Cherry?
Sip: Take a reasonably sized gulp and hold it for just a bit, swishing it around to coat the inside of your mouth, then swallow. Do you taste more than you smell? Does the flavor change at all? How does it feel inside your mouth? Get a conversation going by asking everyone what they like or don't like about the wine. Once you're done, invite everyone to keep drinking their favorite.