This time of the year is a great time to enjoy a wine party. Crush is happening, vineyards are celebrating this year’s harvest.
We are so excited to share an idea we had for our small group of friends.
From our travels, we have tasted some delicious wines from around the world. While at a North Georgia winery, tasting some really good grapes, Eric and I thought it would be so FUN to put them up against the world!
Take the Georgia varietal and match it up with the same grape from where it came from originally-ish.
We had a blast visiting the Georgia wineries and found some top-notch contenders.
So here is what we did:
We took several varietal choices from around the world and matched with the same varietal from our Georgia wineries. We researched food pairings for each selection of wine. Then we turned it all into a game 🙂
First, We selected our favorite styles of wine from around the world and matched them up with a wine from Georgia – put them both in jute drawstring bags so our guests could not see which was which, labeled them by number and let the guests choose which they preferred.
We handed out tasting note cards and kept a score board tally.
At the end of night, which one won?
Well First things first – Here is our guide to creating your own Battle of the Wines.
EVENT TIP: DIY Wine glass marker idea – dip the glasses in RustOleum’s Chalkboard paint, let drip for a bit, and place on parchment paper to dry for at least 24 hours.
We also cut wine bottle shape out of wood and painted in chalkboard paint to use for our menus.
Once our guests arrived and they had fun personalizing their glasses, we did a welcome toast with a Prosecco. and explained the “rules”
Rules of Engagement:
Must eat at least ONE item off of the specific wine menu before tasting said wine.
Must swirl both selections and smell each one before sipping to taste.
THATS ALL, let’s taste.
We started with the lighter wines first. As our guests ate Brie, Prosciutto & Cantaloupe, and Mussels, we talked about our memories of finding this Chardonnay.
They smelled, they tasted and they voted.
#1 came in with 3 votes and #2 came in 8
Moved around the table to our Merlot selections. The Merlot menu consisted of Chicken Pesto Pasta, Italian Sausage, and Gouda cheese.
The votes came in, #1 with the win.
As people ate a bit from the Spanish Malbec and North Georgia Malbec selection, we gave a bit of wine history and background of this grape.
The Malbec menu options were: Lamb Meatballs, Cheddar Cheese ( I love a crystallized aged cheddar, what is your favorite cheese?) and Olives.
Guests wrote their thoughts down on the their note cards and after about 10 minutes of discussing notes, we went to the score board.
#1 received 6 votes and #2 received 5 votes
So next up was the to tally all of votes – The WORLD won…
We had so much FUN with this evening and the research – we hope you agree and take this idea on for your close group of family and friends.
Cheers, Kristin