Ladies Night In Wine Tasting

Three of my favorite things: time with gal pals, hosting parties and indulging in wine. Can you blame me? 

During one of my many times lost on Pinterest, I came across the idea to host a ladies night wine tasting. It was completely casual with sweet neighbor gals (I got lucky in the neighborhood department), chatting over small bites while we sipped some of our favorite wines.

Here’s the low down on my Ladies Night-In Wine Tasting.

Invitation:

I just made a casual facebook invite with the following wording:

"Hi neighbors! I would love to get everyone together to introduce some new faces and enjoy a little ‘ladies night in’ wine tasting fun! Bring your favorite vino and we’ll have a casual tasting contest. Prizes involved and appetizers will be provided. Hope to see all of you as we “wine down” the last days of summer!"

You could be more specific and say “red” or “white” wines only, wines made in your state, etc. – really whatever sounds fun to you! I would suggest keeping the party limited to 10-12 people so there’s enough wine in each bottle for everyone to try a little.

Set Up:
I wanted guests to be able to keep track of their wine glasses (plus it’s fun to have your name on anything) so I bought white cardstock from Michael’s, cut into shapes, wrote each person’s name, punched a hole and used jute string to tie onto the bottom of each wine glasses.

 As guests arrived they put a number card on their bottle (so everyone could keep track of what they were trying). You could also use brown paper sacks and have a “blind” taste testing if you wanted.

Make sure you have a couple bottle openers on hand. Also, fill a cute bucket with ice so you are prepared to keep white wines chilled.

Small Bites: 

I wanted to keep the appetizers simple but also have a variety of options that would pair with different types of wine. 

• Assorted cheeses (brie, fontina, apple cheddar, pepper cheese ball), 
• Crackers (great for cleansing the pallet in between wines), pita bread & pretzel thins
• Salami
• Olives
• Hummus
• Fruits (grapes, strawberries & apples)
• Bacon-wrapped asparagus (just because) 
• Chocolate (bite-size brownies and chocolate-covered craisins)

Notes:

I created a little note sheet so each person could keep track of what they tried, what they liked, what they didn’t, etc. I had every intention of having the ladies vote on which one they liked best (with a prize ready to go) but we ended up chatting the night away and forgot. That was okay by me.

A good time was had by all! What's your favorite thing to do for ladies night? I love hearing new ideas!