Planning a tasting and need to know what kinds of wines and beers and also what kind of food to serve.
Answer From Expert Roger Bohmrich MW
To try to give you useful advice in answer to your question, I would need to know how much you want to spend in total, and how many wines you want to offer. I would not recommend mixing wine and beer in a true tasting; it would be better to have separate tastings of each beverage.
To get you started, a basic tasting format might include three dry whites and three reds, each from a different grape variety. Or, you could offer eight wines made up of pairs of the same grape. For example, a Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand and the Loire Valley in France, Chardonnay from California and Australia, and Pinot Noir from Oregon and Burgundy. This type of tasting, with enough wine for 12 two-ounce pours, could cost as little as $100 to $125 - or more depending on the wines.
If you want to focus on the wine and not alter your palate, avoid food and especially cheese, which overpowers most wines and coats the tongue (despite the conventional wisdom). Serve plain crackers or bread and water, and prepare a tasting sheet with wines numbered in order, light and dry to full and oaky. Or, if you just want to have fun, feel free to break all the so-called rules!
