memory making

I got a voice message this afternoon from Julie saying “thank you for being a great memory maker.” The compliment touched my heart. I realize that sometimes I get carried away planning little parties and events, but I do it for that exact reason – to create the potential for wonderful little moments to be remembered and cherished.

We hosted a “blind wine tasting” on Sunday for her birthday. Well, I supposed I should say “I” hosted it instead of “we” since Josh was down for the count with a cold. He crawled out of bed to say happy birthday for a bit though. If you have never been to a blind tasting before, you should try it! It may perhaps be more easily orchestrated in smaller groups than our 15-20 people group yesterday, but either way, it is fun.

We asked each of our guests to bring a bottle of wine. The label of each bottle is covered with construction paper, and written on the paper of each bottle is the person’s name and a code of the category the wine falls under so you can make sure to taste in the right order. We used:

LW = off-dry/light whites

DW = dry whites

LR = light, younger reds

HR = heavy, older reds

DR = Dessert reds

This helped us to choose the wines from the mix and taste them in as close to the correct order as possible. When a guest’s wine was ready to be tasted, they would pour for everyone, we would write down our thoughts on 1) appearance, 2) aroma, 3) flavor, 4) after-taste, and 5) overall impression. Then, when finished noting and discussing, the guest would unveil the bottle and read the vintner’s notes.  I was surprised by how close we often were on depicting the bouquets and tastes.

As someone who enjoys a nice glass of wine now and then, I have to say that this is a fun way to learn about a wine first on your own, then with a little extra knowledge to enhance your experience! I can’t help it, I was always that kid who when anyone tried to explain something to me, the direction meant nothing until I experienced it for myself first. Then, it was only then that things would sink in completely. It’s kind of the same with tasting wines.

So, try it out and create some memories with friends!

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