The Auswine Forum

Hi everyone,
First time posting, and I'm afraid I'm only a budding wine buff rather than having any great knowledge.

I'm going to be hosting a mystery wine night this weekend, and due to the format of the evening, there are going to be a large range of bottles that I have never tried before, and which I wont be able to taste before ordering for the evening.

As such, I'm not sure what the best way of arranging the wines' order will be.

Would anyone be able to give me some generic advice as to how wines should be tasted (I appreciate that a generic system will never be perfect, but I'm looking for the best scenario I can find given the constraints of the evening)?

For example, I gathered that Cabernet should be tasted before Shiraz, and that within the category of Cabernet, I should taste the younger wines before the older ones. However, I have no idea where to place Merlot, Grenache, blends etc, and I have absolutely no idea with regards to the order whites should be tasted (I assume Riesling before Chardonnay?)

I would appreciate any assistance anyone could give me.

Thank you so much,

P

rooview has the order of wines (generally speaking) lightest to heaviest pretty right - depending on the wines I'd usually serve shiraz before cabernet/cabernet blends (which I'd expect to usually have more body weight/structure and to be drier) and sangiovese/grenache/tempranillo before merlot...

... but you have to remember this is a blind exercise, and staggering the wines this way could be a little too obvious. Apart from serving the whites before the reds and say avoiding putting something really light like a pinot right after a big powerful shiraz or cabernet, within reason I'd make it pretty random and mix them up. This will also depend on the specific wines you have too (a big merlot like Irvine's Grand or a super Tuscan could comfortably dwarf a lot of production line, middle of the road Aussie shiraz & cabernets for example).

If it's fairly random the challenge will then be if people can tell the differences between age, weight, characters and structure without having the crutch of a logical order to give them a clue. But probably the most important thing of all is have fun and not take it too seriously.

Cheers,
Ian

Thanks so much guys, that's fantastic advice.
It should be a fun night, as the way we are running the evening is that everyone is bringing two bottles of the same wine. We are then putting away one lot of wine, and covering up the second lot. Everyone tastes and rates the wines, and the person who brought the wine with the best rating relative to its price will take home all of the 'second' bottles

I just don't want to disadvantage anyone by having their wine 'ruined' by having the wrong wine beforehand!

It doesnt matter too much.

Just have some sparkling water and some palate cleansing food there anyway.

I've never had an issue going back to whites after reds etc.