Host a Wine Tasting on Valentine’s Day
Last updated on October 3rd, 2023 at 03:07 pm
Valentine’s Day is a busy night for most restaurants and bars. If you’re looking for a way to move beyond the traditional dinner and heart-shaped tasty cake, intoxicate your guests with love and wine. Okay, don’t really intoxicate them with wine…but go forth with the love part. Organizing a wine tasting in your restaurant takes some time to plan, but a successful event can bring in continued business long afterwards. You can host a wine tasting any time during the year, but a Valentine’s Day wine tasting sets a great atmosphere of romance and fun, a recipe for success.
In my opinion, the best days to organize a wine tasting are Friday and Saturday when people can relax and not have to worry about going to work tomorrow morning. This makes 2014 your year since February 14th falls on a Friday!
When you decide to host a wine tasting, you should start by thinking about your typical guests’ drinking habits. Most people drink more when they eat a meal, so you could start after lunch or around dinner time. For Valentine’s Day in particular, I suggest an evening event scheduled with dinner reservations. Print off formal invitations, or market the event on your social media networks to get the word out. You can also hire a Sommelier or work in tandem with your wine distributor if you prefer to have an expert on hand to answer any guest questions.
Keep in mind that the tasting area will likely be crowded so make it practical. Avoid overly perfumed flowers and candles that could mix with the smell of the wine. A nice arrangement of glasses and plated grapes and assorted cheeses are enough. Don’t forget to stock up on wine glasses. Nothing will ruin a restaurant wine tasting faster than lack of wine glasses. So, if you are serving six wines, that is six glasses per guest. If you have 50 guests, you will need 300 wine glasses for the evening. You may need to buy an extra case or two of glasses.
Finally, create a little ambiance for the evening: have music playing softly in the background, cover the tables with crisp linens, and display cards with the nights wine list. Ready to start planning? Happy Valentine’s Day!
