Fun Date Night Idea: Wine-Tasting At Home
/One of the activities me and Nick miss during Covid-19 are our trips to the country-side for wine tasting. While I was reminiscing on our last trip to Paso Robles in California, I was scrolling through my Instagram feed and came across a post from my friend Jess who runs Body Bliss By Jess. She and her husband planned a wine-tasting at home for the two of them and shared photos. It looked so fun that Nick and I decided to try it for ourselves during our Friday date night.
Although nothing can replace the ambiance of a winery, we do prefer our wine pours over the wineries. Whether you’re stuck at home or wish to save some money, an at-home wine tasting is a creative way to add fun to your date night! Here are some steps you can follow to do your own at-home wine tasting.
1. Design a theme
Are you whisking away to Livermore in California, Hawke’s Bay in New Zealand, or Champagne in France? Or maybe you’re keeping it local or dressing up Great Gatsby glam style. Design a theme for you and your beloved, or for you and your group of girlfriends, and choose wines and pairings that coordinate with the festivities. For me and Nick’s date night, we didn’t have a theme, but it ended up being a local theme because three of the wines we chose were from wineries within two hours of our home in the Bay Area of California. Next time, we’ll be more intentional in designing a theme to make it even more fun.
2. Choose one or two wines per person
Once you have your theme, choose wines that complement it. It can be all whites, all reds, all sparkling, or a mix of all three. I’m not big on red wines because they tend to feel heavy on my stomach, so we stuck with whites, roses and one lighter red. For our date night, we each chose two wines. If you are hosting a larger party, you can ask your guests to bring one wine per guest/couple. Below are the wines me and Nick chose. From left to right they are from Napa Valley (California), Paso Robles (California), Italy, and Mendicino (California).
As a bonus, we kicked the night-off with a blueberry sparkling wine. Yes, the wine is made from 100% blueberries. The winery is in Maine and woman-owned. It was delicious!
3. Create one pairing per wine
Next, create a pairing for your wines. You can get super fancy with this and research a pairing that goes perfectly with the wines. In our case, we chose pairings that were filling because this was our date night dinner time. Here are the pairings we had:
Honig Sauvignon Blanc: Sliced cucumber with mango and goat cheese
Picpoul Carbonique Rose: Roasted ground lamb with sauteed red onions and fresh mint on top of toasted rolls
Freeda Rose: fresh, homemade baguettes with Saint Andre Brie triple creme cheese
Bonterra Cabernet Sauvignon: grilled pork chops
4. Write down wine talking points
While Nick did a good job of this, I was not prepared. Whatever, I designed the concept so I’ll show myself some grace on not being perfect. Lol. The next time we do this, I will definitely make sure I research the wines and have two to three fun talking points to share.
5. Pour and enjoy!
This the best part. We had so much fun with our at-home wine tasting. If you try it, let me know which wines you choose and the pairings. I’d love to be inspired by your choices. Cheers!
