Wine Party Planning

A few weeks ago I was chit chatting with my best friend Megan about an under-over wine tasting party. It seemed shocking that as much as we both love wine that we've never hosted a wine tasting party. {insert gasps now} Well that just had to change, right? ;)

Have you heard of an under-over wine tasting? It's a wine party where each guest brings two bottles of wine. One under $10 and another over $10. The concept is very appealing because you get to try different wines that you might not otherwise try. So Megan graciously offered to host the party at her home and the date was set!

Being the crafty little busy bee that I am, I excitedly offered to create the wine tasting cards. We decided a small guest list of six people. Her sister-in-law, mother-in-law, co-worker, me and my other girlfriend Missy. With six people that meant twelve bottles of wine, six white and six red. Given the mixtures of wine we would also need some foods that would pair well with both types of wine. This party is happening & the excitement is building.

That means I need to get on the ball with creating those wine tasting cards!! First stop is my beloved Michaels.

My trustee sidekick Missy helped me while shopping for the cardstock and some wine embellishments for the cards. I really wanted to find a wine stamp so I can reuse for future things {I mean, I'm a wino so I would certainly use again!} but unfortunately they didn't have anything. So I went the sticker route. Stay tuned for the details on creating these cards. ;)

Next stop was Total Wine. We lucked out because when we went they were having a wine sampling, so I got to try a couple different wines in a range of prices.

I needed to get two bottles of red wine. At the sampling there was a white wine from Medozza Station that was only $6 and absolutely delicious! I'm not typically a sauvignon blanc drinker, but I enjoyed it very much. So I got a bottle to have at home. Another wine I sampled was a mixture wine with parts Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot that was absolutely delicious; it was so smooth, not at all oaky and a nice finish. SCORE! It was $15 (but I got a $1 coupon for sampling). So I had one wine down, needed to get another bottle under $10.

Since the first wine is a strong bottle with the mixtures of reds I really wanted to get a "basic" type that didn't have a whole lot of surprises. Now I really love Black Swan Shiraz/Cabernet mix, but the point is for us to try something different. So I was pleasantly surprised when Medozza Station, who made the white I tried in the sampling, made a cab. BAM! Second wine bought.

This party is such a fun excuse to go out and get more crafting supplies, craft for a couple hours and buy wine. Why on earth has it taken so long to do this?! ;)