Throw an impromptu, inexpensive party this weekend (hint hint...it involves alcohol!!)

Anyone who knows me will tell you I love planning parties (actually anyone who knows me well will tell you that I am obsessed with planning parties…). Getting married? I know the perfect flowers to go with your chartreuse color theme. Having a baby? I have 2 cake pans shaped like baby bottle, and baby carriage. It’s the second Thursday in June? Pool party in15 minutes….daquiris are already blended. But during this gray, blah time of year, I tend to lose my party momentum. First because it’s gray & blah out (I swear I have that seasonal affective disorder sometimes) and second because we are typically a little broke from the recent holidays. If you are having the same feelings as I…may I make a suggestion?? Drink wine. Drink wine with friends. And ask your friends to bring the wine. Noooo, I am not suggesting you mooch of your friends for alcohol because you are broke, what I am suggesting is…Throw a “Blind Wine Tasting” party!
Here’s how it works:
Invite everyone over for a fun night in and Have everyone bring a bottle of wine. Limit the amount to spend (say wines $15 and under) and if you really want to get fancy…choose a region (maybe Napa Valley or Italy) of where the wine comes from. Encourage people to either bring their favorite wine or one they have never tasted before but looks interesting to them! Ask everyone to bring their wine in a bag, so everyone does not see their wine when they arrive.
Have some numbered brown paper bags ready for when your friends arrive.
Since everyone will at least know the one wine that they brought, make sure you use the same bags! Regular brown paper lunch bags work really well because they also cover the shape of the bottles (for example-certain wines like gewurtztraminers come in very different type bottles). Another really fun idea, is to use black wine glasses so you can't see if the wine is white or red...but alas, this costs extra cash...so I'd stick with the bags.

Since you do not want people trying a sweeter white before a full bodied red (any wine snob will tell you that that will totally mess up your palate…)let people label their wine bag. Use easy codes like SW (sweeter whites),DW for (dry whites), R for reds, P(ink) for the person brings the white zinfandel (you may want to find a new friend…ha! Just kidding!!!). If anyone brings a dessert wine…save that for later after the main tasting is done. Have a few ice buckets available for dumping!
Give everyone a score sheet. Have the numbers of the wines on the side of the page, with some lines for notes next to each number. As everyone goes along the line and tastes the wines- they should write down what type of wine they think it is (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Reisling etc…). Encourage your friends to discuss and debate their ideas!

After everyone is done will their educated guesses…. Proceed with the unveiling of the wines! Then collect the sheets and tally the votes! Have a fun prize (like a corkscrew) for the person who had the most wines right!

A few tips:
- Make sure you provide some little food bites to go along with the wines (popcorn, cheese & crackers, veggie platter). You can make it a pot luck and have everyone bring their favorite snack too!
-Make sure everyone takes their time and has fun…this is a party afterall!
- If anyone seems like they tasted one too many wines…call them a cab, or blow up that aerobed you got for Christmas.

This is a really fun alternative to another night at the local pub (which we all know can cost so much when your paying $6 a drink). So buy a bottle, call your friends and enjoy saving money while drinking a nice Cabernet.

xo E