Hosting a wine tasting at home sounds like it could be complicated, but ours was actually really simple to organise and such a fun way to spend a summer evening with friends.
The idea was simple: everyone brought a bottle of rosé they already loved, we tasted them side by side, made a few notes, scored each one and hopefully left with a new favourite.
Here’s exactly how I set ours up.
1. Invite your friends and give everyone one job
Ask each person to bring one bottle of rosé they love.
I also asked everyone to tell me what they were bringing in advance. That meant I could make a little wine list before the evening and avoid ending up with five bottles of exactly the same thing.
You could ask them to choose:
- their current favourite
- a bottle they always buy
- something they’ve never tried before
- a bottle from a specific region
- or simply something within an agreed budget
We kept ours really simple.
2. Decide how many wines you want to taste
I’d say around 5–8 bottles is plenty for a group, depending on how many people are coming.
If you have a bigger group, you could always split the wines into two rounds rather than trying everything at once.
The idea is to taste them, not finish every bottle.
3. Make a simple wine guide
Once everyone had told me what they were bringing, I made a simple Canva print-out showing all the wines we’d be tasting.
You could include:
- name of the wine
- producer
- country or region
- grape variety, if known
- price
- who brought it
- a little space for a rating
It instantly made the evening feel a bit more special without being much extra work.
Here’s what I created.
4. Create a tasting sheet
I also made everyone a tasting sheet so we could actually compare the wines rather than just saying “I like that one.”
Keep it simple.
For each rosé, we looked at:
- Colour
- Smell
- Taste
- Dry or sweet?
- Fruity or more mineral?
- Finish
- Overall score
- Would I buy it again?
You can score each category out of five, or just write a few notes.
5. Chill everything properly
Get all the rosé cold before everyone arrives and keep the bottles chilled throughout the evening.
You can use:
- ice buckets
- large bowls filled with ice
- cool bags
- fridge space
If you’re tasting several bottles, don’t open everything at once. Work through them gradually.
6. Set up the table
You really don’t need anything fancy.
I used:
- wine glasses
- Fizz glasses
- water glasses
- tasting sheets
- pens
- the wine list
- ice buckets
- water
- a few simple snacks
I didn’t have enough glasses for everyone to have a new one each time so I gave them a fizz glass and a wine glass, then they rinsed in between.
7. Add some simple food
I’d avoid anything too strongly flavoured while you’re actually tasting because it can overpower the wine.
Good options include:
- bread
- crackers
- olives
- mild cheeses
- charcuterie
- grapes
- strawberries
- nuts
- simple dips
Then once the tasting is over, bring out the proper food.
8. Taste each wine together
Pour a small amount of each wine and go through them one at a time.
We looked at the colour first, then gave it a smell before tasting.
You don’t need to know what you’re doing.
Half the fun is people saying things like:
“Is that strawberry?”
“I’m getting peach.”
“I have absolutely no idea what I’m smelling.”
It makes it much less intimidating.
9. Keep the bottles hidden if you want to make it competitive
You could turn it into a blind tasting by covering the labels and numbering each bottle.
Then everyone scores them without knowing what they cost or who brought them.
Reveal the wines at the end and see which one wins.
This would be such a fun variation for another evening.
10. Pick your winner
At the end, compare everyone’s scores. We wanted everyone to leave having discovered at least one wine they’d happily buy again.
You could have awards for:
- Best overall rosé
- Best value
- Best bottle
- Most surprising
- Best summer wine
- The one everyone would actually buy again
What I brought
My choice for the evening was Mirabeau Pure. Pale, crisp and basically summer in a glass exactly what I want from a rosé when the weather is warm.
What you’ll need
For an easy checklist:
- 5–8 bottles of rosé
- wine glasses
- water glasses
- ice / wine coolers
- tasting sheets
- pens
- printed wine list
- water
- simple nibbles
- somewhere comfortable to sit
- good friends
The biggest tip
Don’t make it too serious. We learnt a little bit about what we were drinking, but the whole point was to have a lovely evening together and hopefully find a few new favourites.
Everyone really got into smelling, tasting and comparing the wines, and it turned what could have just been drinks with friends into something much more memorable.
I think this might have to become an annual tradition.
Always drink responsibly. Over 18’s only.
Sarah x
Our Dorset Life 
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