February 28, 2019

Wine Shop at Home

Wine Shop at Home is a fun experience like Pampered Chef or any other “sell in your home” party.  You get your friends together, cater some food, put out candles and flowers, and send your husband to the movies for a couple of hours.  (In fairness, you can do a couples tasting, but my husband heads for the hills when he hears we’re doing a wine tasting.)

I’ve been hosting Wine Shop at Home parties for nine years.  I used to do one each year but missed the last two due to “life.”  I started back this week.  I’m glad I did.

I should state up front that Wine Shops at Home got me started on the path to this blog.  I saw an ad in a local magazine for my local consultant, thought it was a cool idea, and called.  At the time, I had no pallet and no taste for wine.  I remember telling her to order the sweetest, all white sampler she had.  She very nicely suggested I do a sampler with four whites and two reds, just in case.  This week’s sampler was all red with one white thrown in from my personal wine library just for variety sake.  Oh, how far I have come.

I’ll also point out that almost all the wine on their sale sheet is over the price I generally set for this blog.  But the experience of the tasting is worth it.

I send out invites (maximum of 12 guests) and assign everyone who comes something to bring along.  It’s sort of a potluck of cheese and appetizers.  We learn about the wine and the wine making process (my poor consultant has to find new things to say by this time and so many tastings together).

At the end of the night, you can purchase bottles of the wines you enjoyed. 

It’s truthfully a lot of fun and the wines are good.  (Good enough that I have been a member of their wine club for all nine years.)

My favorite from this week was Revel Sauvignon Blanc, a grapefruit filled Sauv Blanc that makes me yearn for summer months and a sunny back patio.  At $23.50 per bottle, it’s not terribly out of line with this blog.

If you enjoy these kind of “try and buy” parties, see if Wine Shop at Home is in your state.  It’s a great way to host a party.