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I find that themes are the best for this. Regions, varietals, vertical tastings (different vintages of the same wine), food pairings, etc. all work nicely because they naturally generate a topic of discussion.

Once you have decided on the theme then you have to decide on the price. I also find that themes or plans work well here. If you are doing 5 wines you could select 5 from the 25-30 dollar price range or one at 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35.

Glassware is key. When you do 4-5 wines, which a decent tasting should be (as these are good numbers to give a lot of variety but not so much as to overwhelm people), you need to have a glass for each wine. This will allow people to compare colors, bouquets, tastes and textures of wines side by side. It is much harder to sample, then finish one wine, start a new one and then compare through memory.

Also, having a glass for each wine will allow people to experience how wines open. One should go through and smell and taste all the wines once or twice, leaving at least two more sips in each glass. Then when finished with the first pass, go back and sample again to find the more secondary and tertiary characteristics of each wine.

Of course, food will be an integral part of any wine tasting experience. More on this later…

For those of you who may be a little more new to the wine drinking experience–not just to Malbec, Torrontés and Bonarda–a good glass, wine glass, or crystal glass may not seem that important. Now, I’m not saying that you need to go spend 50 or more dollars per glass on specifically Pinot Noir glasses and then only drink your Pinot from there. What I am saying is that there is a reason that good glassware is considered good.

First, the shape of the glass is very important. The curve of good glassware is specifically crafted to allow aromas and perfumes to be better captured by the glass. If one were to simply drink wine from a lowball or highball glass, the subtleties and richness of many wines with great scents will be lost.

Second, the size of the opening at the top of the glass is important. Red wines, especially heavily oaked reds need more contact with oxygen in order to open and fully express themselves. Hence red wine glasses tend to be larger than white wine glasses.

Third, good crystal cleans easier and more completely than plastic or glass and also does not dissolve at all in the wine, leaving you with only the wine and its characteristics. To illustrate this, everyone knows that if you leave water in a plastic bottle for a while, especially in the sun, you drink it and get a very plastic taste.

Speaking of cleaning wine glasses: one should only use very hot water (Yuji makes a game of trying not to burn himself as scalding water is streaming from the faucet–sounds fun to me!)… no soap/detergent as this will leave a soapy flavor and smell on the glass and contaminate your wine. To disinfect, use a small spray bottle filled with alcohol and rub the glassware down.

Now, this may sound excessive but it all depends on how much of the ritual you like to incorporate into your wine drinking. I am simply here to inform and do not pretend to abide by these procedures 100% of the time. Far from it. But when I get a good wine (let us say, Cavagnaro Reserve Malbec), I will surely spray my glass and wipe it down with alcohol to get rid of detergent smell and clean with hot water.