Whether it’s a birthday, a team gathering, or just an excuse to bring friends together, a wine tasting is one of the easiest and most engaging events you can host. And with the help of Swirl and Venga, you don’t need to be a sommelier or a party planner to make it unforgettable. Here’s your stress-free guide to hosting a great wine tasting:

1. Start with a theme (It makes everything easier)

A theme makes choosing wines simpler and gives your guests a fun anchor for comparisons and conversation.

Here are some great tasting themes:

• By grape: Compare the same grape but different wine making techniques. Or similar grapes such as Pinot Noir and Gamay.

• By region: Same grape, but different regions. Italy, South Africa, Chile - geography changes everything.

• Old world vs. New world: Classic Europe vs. modern wines from the US or Australia.

• By flavour profile: “Crisp & fresh,” “bold & spicy,” “Different levels of funkyness.”

• Natural vs. traditional: Minimal-intervention wines compared to classic styles

✨ Venga tip: Use the Venga app to create the event and invite all your friends. Use the polls feature and ask which style they want to taste.

2. Choose the right Number of Wines (Without Overspending)

You don’t need 10 bottles for a great tasting. 3–5 wines is ideal - enough variety without overwhelming your guests. A single bottle usually covers 6–8 people for tasting pours (60–90ml).

✨ Venga tip: If you want to include more premium bottles, set a price per seat in Venga. Guests can confirm attendance and pay directly in the app — no awkward money discussions or chasing payments later.

🍷 Swirl tip: Use Swirl to explore wines by grape, flavour, or style, and save them to a dedicated tasting collection so you have everything ready in one place.

3. Make it interactive, not intimidating

Wine tastings should feel fun, not like a lecture. Keep it relaxed:

• Ask guests to describe flavours in their own words

• Add a “guess the grape” blind round

• Encourage your guests to scan every bottle with Swirl after they had tried, so they can read and find all the information about each wine. A great way to keep the wine talk going.

• Have the group rate each wine to find the ultimate crowd favourite

✨ Venga tip: Get your guests to take photos of the event and share in the app. The photos will arrive for you in high-quality and everyone will have access to them.

4. Add some (Very low-effort) Food

You don’t need a full dinner. Just offer snacks that support the flavours:

• Cheeses, olives, charcuteries

• Breadsticks and crackers

• Patês and dipping sauces

• Chocolate, nuts, dried fruit for dessert wines

✨ Venga tip: Use the event chat to let guests know the menu in advance - or ask if anyone wants to bring something.

5. Casual or formal , your choice

You don’t have to pronounce “Gewürztraminer” perfectly to host a great tasting. The best events are relaxed and social. Two popular formats:

• Structured: Tastings done together with short discussions.

• Casual: Guests move around, pour at their pace, and explore freely.

Whether it's at home or in a booked venue, the goal is simple: sip, chat, and have fun.

Bonus: Make it a game

Add a dash of friendly competition:

• Guess the grape: Blind tasting

• Rate the wines: Pick the “People’s Choice”

• Wine bingo: Spot tasting notes like “citrus,” “oaky,” or “spicy”

✨ Venga tip: Use Venga polls as a live scoreboard - guests can vote right in the app for a fun, interactive moment during the event.

Why wine tastings work for any event

Wine tastings break the ice, spark conversation, and bring people together. Even guests who “don’t know much about wine” love discovering new flavours and scanning bottles in Swirl to learn more.

With Swirl offering tasting insights and Venga handling invites, payments, photos, and communication, hosting becomes completely effortless.

Swirl + Venga = The perfect wine event

Swirl makes it easy to discover, understand, and enjoy wine.
Venga makes it easy to plan, organize, and host amazing events.

Together, they create a wine tasting experience that’s personal, elevated, and stress-free - from invite to vino.

Create your invitation on Venga for free