When you think of a “blind” tasting you probably imagine a bunch of suited-up Sommeliers and wine professionals loudly smelling and tasting wine in a room. Then saying with precise confidence the exact year, region and even color pants the winemaker had on when he or she made the wine.

While this is definitely true in some circumstances, not everyone has to be some skilled wine expert with pretentious characteristics to partake in a fun evening of tasting wine blind. 

Throwing blind tasting events at my house or through our business is a fantastic way to get friends together to learn about wine. Especially because of how entertaining they are because yes, you are still drinking wine. 

I like to taste wine blind because it showcases a whole new experience when it comes to drinking it. When you open a wine where you know what is inside the bottle you are incredibly swayed because you already know some characteristics to expect. For example, a pinot noir from Sonoma, CA will normally portray notes of cherry and cola, soft on the palette, with subtle tannins and a velvety finish. 

Although, when tasting a wine “blind” you are throwing every preconceived notion you know about the wine and just going with what you smell and taste. It is a fantastic way to discover your new favorite varietal, or truly confirm that you do not enjoy a particular one. 

I actually discovered my love for Italian Nebbiollo by tasting it blind, now it is one of my favorite varietals to drink. On the other hand, everytime I blind taste an oaky Chardonnay it confirms my disdain towards it. 

Even though the goal of a blind tasting is to correctly guess the grape, region and year of the wine, I think it can be way more than just that. It is a great way to get together with friends, learn about some new grapes and regions, test your skills, experience the humbling feeling of not knowing what the heck is in your glass, and having a great time.

In this article, I am thrilled to be breaking down my two favorite ways that I like to test myself and whoever I am with throughout a blind tasting. 

#1 - A Blind Tasting Party - This has to be my favorite way to conduct a blind tasting. I said “blind tasting party” although you probably want to keep this to under 12 people. Mainly because when I have thrown these get-togethers at my own place, I ask everyone to bring one bottle of wine and if there are 30 people, not everyone will be able to get a sample of each wine. I have seen great success out of these blind tastings when the group size is 6-12. 

Sometimes I like to have a theme at my blind tasting parties. This can mean telling my guests to only bring a red wine from Europe. Or to be even more more specific, I could say to bring just wines from the Rhone region of France. When you establish a theme beforehand, it definitely narrows down the choices when you are tasting so people might not feel as lost. I believe a blind tasting with this particular method is the best way to learn about a region your tasting group does not normally drink. 

Although on the other hand, I tend to prefer just going rogue and telling my guests to bring whatever wine as long as it is from a classic, well-known region. This means do not bring a Carignan from Morocco. No offense to Morocco, I am sure their wines are better than expected. It’s just that blind tastings are more fun when the wines are at least somewhat guessable. Here is a quick list for solid testable wines that can easily be found for around $30.

• Right-bank blend from Bordeaux, France

• Shiraz from Australia

• Zinfandel from California 

• Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand 

• Garnacha from Spain 

• GSM from Rhone, France 

• Chenin Blanc from South Africa 

• Nebbiolo from Italy 

It is always nice to tell your guests a budget to keep in mind. Although It depends on your specific group, I normally like to tell my guests to keep it around $30; but of course I always say you are welcome to bring something a bit more expensive if desired. 

Setting a theme or not for the tasting along with a budget is important so your guests know what to bring. Although do not rely on your guests to bring all the booze because you have to bring something to the table also. 

As the host of the party, in my eyes you are required to bring two wines to the table, while everyone else brings just one. This is because you should bring a bottle that of course fits the theme and budget of the party but you should also bring a $2 buck chuck.

If you are unfamiliar, a $2 buck chuck is a bit of an out-dated term because a wine for $2 does not exist in this economy unless it is from a bag. So essentially, this means to buy a super cheap wine (anything under $7), brown bag it, and put it among the rest of the wines at the party and see what the crowd thinks. 

The “hidden $2 buck chuck” game tends to be my favorite part of these nights. Normally it is very obvious to spot out. Although, sometimes it can be a little more difficult. I have personally been stumped and quite impressed with some of these $2 buck chucks. One time I even had a friend guess the $350 bottle of wine that he brought was the $2 buck chuck, and it was hilarious. 

It really is incredible how much a price tag or label can sway yourself and palette, this is why a blind tasting can be so fun to experience. 

After you buy your two bottles, all that is needed is to buy brown bags and rubber bands to secure the bag at the top of the bottle. Normally I just buy brown lunch bags and rubber bands from my local supermarket. Lastly, I like to set the brown bags on a table by my door-step with a sign for my guests that says “open your wine and take a bag to hide your bottle”. It is important that everyone opens the bottle that they brought so no one can see the cork. 

Then once everyone has arrived and you have all your wines bagged, it is time to taste! Once tasted, I normally like to just go one by one around the room and have everyone at the party say their guesses of the grape, year and region they think the wine is from. 

And that’s the night! Depending on the vibe of your group you can keep score with everyone’s guesses. I normally like my blind tastings to be more fun and informative so I do not prefer to keep score so there is never any winner or loser. 

If you do have a competitive wine group, an option is for everyone to bring two bottles to the party. One for the blind tasting and one for the prize. Then whoever guessed the most correctly gets the pot of wines everyone else brought. 

Either way you do it, just remember tasting wines blind in a public setting can be naturally intimidating for some. This is why I try to keep it more light-hearted with no winners or no losers. Because at the end of the day we’re all winners if we’re drinking wine amongst friends and loved ones. 

#2 - Blind Tasting Date Night - Let’s say none of your friends are into wine, or you do not want to host a party at your house but you still want the experience of a blind tasting, there is another option. 

Michaela and I started doing this somewhat recently and it is our new favorite “at home” date night idea. 

Call your favorite local wine shop and ask them to please pick out anywhere from 1 to 5 wines for a blind (depending on how many you want), and brown bag them for you. This may sound like a strange request to ask but I assure you the wine professionals at the shop will know exactly what you are talking about and usually they are pretty excited to be involved. 

Tell the wine shop worker your budget or if there is a specific region you would like the wines to be from, go pick them up, take them home and you have your very own blind tasting! 

Make sure not to cheat when opening the bottle as the cork will normally give out some details of the wine, have it with some food and let your partner and yourself, friend, or just yourself analyze and try to figure out what the wine is. 

A blind tasting party is more fun, although method number two tends to be more informative to me. Mainly because you get to have a few glasses more than just a little sip.

The way Michaela and I prefer to reveal it is just when it feels like there is one last glass left for both of us to enjoy, we say our guesses, reveal it, and enjoy the rest of the bottle knowing what it actually is. Unfortunately, normally the last glass is not as enjoyable as we tend to have just around a 25% success rate when doing these. 

If there is one suggestion I have for anyone conducting a blind tasting is to stick with your gut. I can not tell you how many times my first guess was either correct or closer than what I ended up saying I thought it was. It is so easy to get in your own head with a blind tasting because most wines will be evolving in the glass. One sip you’ll taste cinnamon and it will be super dry. Then after a few minutes, a few swirls and some food the next sip of the same wine will be a soft juicy fruit bomb. This happens all the time with me and normally I wish I would have stuck with my first guess. 

That being said, the tip I just left certainly does not guarantee accuracy when condoning a blind tasting. But that is okay, because being wrong is probably my favorite part of a blind tasting, other than tasting incredible wines. It is an incredibly humbling, informative, yet amusing experience.

Whether you guess them all right or all wrong, I promise you that blind tastings are a lot more fun than they are intimidating. Get a group of great wine friends together soon and experience a whole new way to learn about wine!