Wine & Cheese, Please

One item on my summer to-do list is to throw a wine and cheese tasting party. Well, this Friday I was able to give that line item a big, ol' check mark! I had the ladies over to do some blind wine tasting, as well as eat delectable treats, including cheese & crackers, grapes, walnuts, dried cherries, olives, salted Italian chocolates and thanks to Baker Erin, some tasty almond-roca-like-goodness.

Ever since I worked in a wine shop years ago, I've wanted to throw this kind of bash. I don't know what took me so long, but I can't wait to do it again! We all brought a bottle of cabernet sauvignon, between $10-$20, but I also threw in a $3 bottle to see how it'd fair. Then I hid the bottles and we got down to business, deciding whether or not the wines were earthy or fruity or dry or tannic. Often times we'd pick up on the same characteristics, which made us feel like we kind of knew what we were doing (even if we didn't)! I also taught them the 6 s's of wine tasting: see, swirl, smell, sip, savour and spit. (But we didn't spit because that's just plain nonsense.)

Now for the party details. I made labels for the wine glasses because it was inevitable that we'd mix up wine glasses throughout the night without them.

Some of the treats, including water to rinse our glass between tastings. (Oh yes, we're so sophisticated :))

I provided a list of possible cheeses and everyone signed up for a different kind, so the cheese platter was perfectly varied - from hard pecorino to ultra-soft triple cream to the favorite of the evening, the drunken goat. Not your typical goat cheese, but very delicious!

An intermission from the food shots. This is when Autumn was trying to "savour" by kind of bubbling the wine to get the full flavor. Yeah, it makes you feel really silly. And you can't help but laugh.

Erin's scrumptious almond roca treat. (Yes, Mom, it's the same recipe you use.)

Concealed wines waiting to be judged.

This is how they ranked, best on the left - which was actually Autumn's wedding wine! The $3 bottle got 5th place. And mine got last! Oops. The wine shop lady must have led me astray!

And the ladies of the evening, right after Erin let out our infamous "there's-no-way-you-can't-laugh-after-hearing-this-crazy-laugh" laugh. Let's just say you'd never think that sound could actually come out of such a sweet face, but let me assure you, it can.

Next time I think we'll taste whites. Chardonnays, perhaps? Or maybe even choose-your-own-white? At any rate, I'm sure it will be equally as fun. Thanks for coming over, ladies! Can't wait for the next wine night!