I crossed another item off of the Yearly Bucket List this weekend! We had some friends over for a wine tasting party, and it turned out great!!! I could have just let this be a super-simple low-key thing, but it was fun to “dress it up” a little bit with nice hors d’oeuvres and a few decorations. A few block letters, a few cork circles, some black card stock and a little gold paint, and voila! You’re all set. We made spinach artichoke dip from a recipe I received at my bridal shower (thanks, Veronica!), had cheese/prosciutto/crackers, cream cheese with jalapeño jelly, brown sugar bacon sausages, and the most amazing caprese bites (see links to available recipes at the bottom of the post). Waaay more food than we needed (especially because Tiffany brought some delicious sausage wheels), but it was fun for Max and I to get it all ready.

We provided two wines to taste, and then our guests brought two wines as well. As soon as they got there, I put generic labels over the bottles to allow for the blind tasting. The labels were so easy to make – just card stock and a gold Sharpie. I made really simple “score cards” for everyone from a notepad I had around the house. Each person made whatever notes they wanted to about each wine we sampled, and then we ranked them in order of which one we liked best. Most of us seemed to be on the same page about our rankings. 

All in all, I had a great time setting up our wine tasting party, and it’s definitely something I’d like to do again with more couples!!