A wine tasting is a good way to welcome guests to your new DIY outdoor kitchen. Think of it as being an inaugural party for your patio kitchen and its built-in barbecue. Your guests can spend practically the entire party outdoors, where they can eat, taste the wine, and socialize. Although hosting a wine tasting sounds like quite a bit of work, it isn’t. We’ll talk you through the steps here.
Choose a Theme for Your DIY Outdoor Kitchen Wine Tasting Event
Wine tasting themes aren’t the usual kind that most people consider when they’re planning a party. After all, you aren’t going to have a kid’s dinosaur-themed wine tasting! Instead, these themes involve the types of wine that you’re going to serve in your DIY outdoor kitchen. There are two main wine tasting themes to choose from – varietals and horizontals. The former involves tasting a dozen or so wines from one region. Obviously, you can choose any region that you like, from California’s wine country to northern Italy or Argentina. Once you’ve narrowed down the region, you have your choice of wines. A horizontal theme requires that you obtain several wines from the same winemaker or type, just in different years. If you already have a wine cellar stocked with interesting varietals from the same collection, then this is an easy choice to make.
Set Up Your DIY Outdoor Kitchen for Your Wine Tasting
After you’ve chosen the theme for your DIY outdoor kitchen wine tasting party, you next need to assemble everything else. You’ll need a place for your guests to sit, as well as a place to display the wine glasses. This is where outdoor kitchen countertops come in handy. If you have them, then you can arrange the wine bottles and other items on them until the tasting starts. Other things that you need include some sort of palate cleansers, as well as glasses of water. Although you’ll have other foods available, bland ones tend to make the best palate cleansers. Consider using small chunks of bread or crackers. They can be arranged on the countertop near your wine pouring station.
When it comes to purchasing the wine for the party (or fetching it from your wine cellar, if you already own it) the general rule is everyone gets a two-ounce serving of the same wine. Since the average wine bottle holds 24 ounces, you’ll be able to serve 12 guests from it – including yourself. Most tastings have between five and ten different types of wine, although this is entirely up to you. You can have your guests taste as many wines as you want. However, you will need one wine glass per guest for each different type of wine, so keep that in mind when you’re purchasing your bottles.
Make the Food with Your Built in Barbecue
Obviously, since your guests will be drinking quite a bit of wine in your DIY outdoor kitchen, you’ll need to serve them food. Cheese and crackers – especially if you can get cheese made in the same region as your wine – is a nice hors d’oeuvre. Also, consider serving cheese puffs and bruschetta. Crystal bowls of mixed nuts, cheese straws, and stuffed mushrooms make nice appetizers, too. You might also want to serve an entire meal, so consider making some salmon on your built-in barbecue and serving it with rice made on a stove top in your DIY outdoor kitchen. Dessert can be a berry tart, although cheesecake will work nicely as well. Plus, something chocolate. Chocolate mousse pairs well with many different types of wine. You’ll never have to go inside, which means that you won’t miss out on any guest interactions while cooking. There are other possible menu options to choose from as well since you can experiment a little and see which foods go well with the tannins in the wine.
Hold the Party in Your Patio Kitchen
Setting up for the party is the fun part. Obviously, your patio kitchen will be the main spot, as it will have a place for you to arrange the wine bottles, set up the tasting glasses, and even cook the foods that you’ll serve. Your DIY outdoor kitchen most likely has a set of patio tables nearby, which you’ll need to cover with a nice tablecloth. Consider using empty wine bottles or themed art from your chosen wine region for the centerpieces. You’ll have to decide whether to hide the wine bottles that you’ll be tasting or to display the labels for your guests to see. The first idea is fun, as it gives your guests a chance to guess what they’re drinking. Each place setting should have a notepad and pen, so that everyone can write down tasting notes. It’s these small touches that turn your wine tasting party into a memorable one.
Final Thoughts
Hosting a wine tasting is a great way to show off your new DIY outdoor kitchen. There are so many different things that you can add when planning yours – from a built-in barbecue to a special outdoor-rated wine chilling rack (which makes perfect sense for this kind of party).
When you’re ready to design your DIY outdoor kitchen, please give Grillnetics a call or contact us via the form below. We can help you design your patio kitchen from start to finish, based on your exact specifications. Our professional designers understand how to make a high-end backyard kitchen look beautiful, but be functional at the same time. Some possible components include countertop and built in pizza ovens, bar sinks, granite countertops, and much more. For the most part, if you can put it in a standard kitchen, we can build it into your backyard. Contact us today to get started.