Wonder what goes on behind the scenes of prepping for a pairing? Here is a sneak peak at how we do it at RichPairings…..

We really do use our Wine Tasting Pairing Planning Guide!! We share our methods and ideas with anyone who is interested in hosting a Wine Tasting or Pairing Party to get started with themes, level of simplicity/complexity, number of attendees, tasting knowledge level, etc. Then we go about researching the wines that would fit - personal experience & internet deep dives then trips to Total Wine, Grocery Stores, Wine Stores, etc. to find the right ones to sample. We also research complimentary and contrasting types of food pairings and go on a few more procurement runs.

Once everything is purchased - we stage the pairing - it is a tough job, but we LOVE it!! In this example, we sampled several Proseccos and two different Beaujolais-Villages. We even tried the viral-tiktok about eating a pretzel with a grape tastes like fried chicken (which btw, is an excellent pairing with Champagne) - it just didn’t work for us or the Prosecco, so hard pass on that recommendation.

Final choices were based on this “Sip Into Spring” theme with lighter wine styles.

Along the way we take notes, discuss and compare, then writeup our findings to make recommendations. Lots of communication with the client(s) to let them know the outcomes and get agreements on next steps. We provide full list of tasting notes, wine ratings, grocery lists, recipes if needed, and a lot of planning tips for a successful taste.