Hosting a wine tasting in your bar is likely going to be a much more intimate and personal experience than the more open “convention center” feel of larger, exhibitor-style tastings. Bar tastings allow a unique opportunity for conversation and community building, but it can sometimes be challenging to balance a bit of “wine professionalism” into the pre-existing atmosphere of your bar. In part one of this post , we discussed how to select your wine order. While your wine is ultimately the main attraction at your event, the presentation and surroundings can make or break a good wine selection. Here are a few things to consider when organizing the layout of your tasting.
Lighting
For many tasters, an important part of wine tasting is gauging the color and appearance of each wine. While it may be tempting to dim the lights for that cozy and intimate mood, remember that there needs to be enough light to clearly see the wine through the glass. Swapping any standard incandescent bulbs with white or full spectrum bulbs may help increase visibility. If your establishment has plenty of windows, consider starting your tasting earlier in the day to take full advantage of the natural sunlight.
Location and traffic flow
Try to set up your tasting arrangement in an easily accessible and open location. Make sure to leave plenty of room for people to move around the table without bumping into each other, and allow room for small lines to form as people come back for their next wine. It may seem natural to set the arrangement up in the center of your establishment, but carefully consider the layout of your space first. A centrally located table is certainly easy to see, but it may also inadvertently encourage patrons to mingle around the wine, making it awkward or difficult for tasters with empty glasses to get in and out. Pouring your wines over the bar may also have the same effect, especially in smaller establishments. A separate table placed in a strategic corner or against a spacious wall may help greatly increase accessibility.
Presentation
Make sure that your wines are readily visible, and always make a point to place the bottles label out. Keep an unopened bottle of each wine in front of the corresponding serving bottle so that tasters can freely pick them up for a closer look.
Wine temperature
Keep your back-up wines chilled using a small wine refrigerator or ice water bath. White wines should usually be served at about 45F, while most red wines are best served at 60-65F.
Glassware
Even the most elegant of wine selections won’t rescue a tasting if it is being delivered in awkward or impractical glassware. When selecting glassware for your wine tastings, be sure to keep in mind that your tasters will likely be holding these glasses for close to an hour, at least. Make sure to buy durable, but lightweight glasses that will resist a bit of knocking around without being tiresome to hold for an extended period of time. Look for glasses that allow plenty of room for swirling without dwarfing the wine sample in the bottom of the glass. Avoid excess ornamentation as much as possible; your wine should always be the primary focus of your tastings, and glasses with engravings, graphics, or unconventional designs can distract from the color and appearance of the wine.
Portion control
This topic can be a little bit tricky for wine tasting hosts, especially for hosts running smaller tastings. Careful portion control is critical to avoid running out of wine during high-attendance tastings, but openly and meticulously controlling portions during low-attendance tastings may come across as stingy to some visitors. A typical tasting serving is between 1 and 2 ounces (usually erring on the lower side), which should be fairly easy to gauge by eye during smaller tastings. For larger tastings, measure out your desired serving size and mark off the height of the liquid on the outside of each glass with a Sharpie or small piece of colored tape. Using measures during tastings can be cumbersome and time-consuming, and although prepping each glass ahead of time may seem tedious, you will ultimately be glad that you did. Wine pourers are also a good idea when portion control is a concern, as pouring speed can tend to get a bit unpredictable as the bottle empties.
Look out for spoiled bottles
Be sure to learn about the different signs of wine spoilage. Although it is not common, it is possible that the occasional bottle of wine will be spoiled upon opening. Smell is the easiest way to detect a spoiled wine; if the wine smells moldy or has traces of vinegar, wet cardboard, or excessive alcohol in the scent, chances are high that the wine has gone bad. There are sometimes additional physical signals that the wine has gone bad, as well. If the wine is bubbly or effervescent when it is not supposed to be, this indicates that the wine has undergone a second fermentation since bottling and should not be served. Keep an eye out for signs of overheating as well; a cork that has been pushed out slightly from the neck indicates that the wine has expanded within the bottle due to excess exposure to heat. There are several other signs of wine spoilage not listed here, so be sure to do some preliminary research of your own before your first tasting. But as a general rule of thumb, if there is any question about the freshness of one of your bottles, it is probably best not to serve it to your guests.
Palette cleansers
Providing palette cleansers for your tasters is not strictly necessary, but doing so will add an extra air of legitimacy and professionalism to your tasting. Basic palette cleansers such as water and small chunks of freshly baked bread (table water crackers will also suffice) are an excellent way to help your tasters refresh their palettes between wines while keeping costs low. Fine, natural cheeses are also effective palette cleansers, but pairing them well with your wines will take a bit of extra time, money, and experimentation.
Other necessities
Try to anticipate everything that your tasters may need during your event. Provide a disposal container for guests to pour out their wine if they do not like it (nobody should feel required to finish a wine before they can move on to the next one), and offer a pitcher of water for tasters to rinse out their glasses in between wines if they’d like. Having a readily accessible stack of small napkins on the table is also an excellent idea to help catch those inevitable drips. Also consider putting together a write-up detailing briefly each of the wines in the tasting order. This cuts back on the amount of repetitive explaining that you will have to do at the table, and printing out multiple copies will provide tasters with a list to take home to help them remember what they sampled at your tasting.
While these are all good general guidelines to consider when putting together a wine tasting, they are certainly not the only important factors to building a good tasting. The atmosphere and layout of your tasting will ultimately depend on your target demographic, as well as the natural feel and mood of your establishment. Despite the often stereotyping media portrayals of wine culture snobbery, there really aren’t any steadfast “rules” when it comes to structuring a wine tasting, and many tasters will much prefer a friendly and relaxed atmosphere to the uptight and exclusive attitude depicted in so many movies and sitcoms. Having a natural, inviting tasting environment that is tailored to the pre-existing theme and mood of your bar or restaurant is ultimately more beneficial to return business than risking a disingenuous or sterile mood by trying strictly to “do it right.”
Everything listed above may seem like a lot to keep in mind while putting together your wine tasting, but allowing yourself plenty of time for step-by-step planning and “feeling things out” will make the task seem a lot less daunting. But with enough preparation, striking a balance between professionally functional wine tasting and a relaxing atmosphere of welcoming camaraderie is very achievable, and it will make attending your wine tastings a pleasure every time.
