Favorite Summer Things: Backyard Wine Tastings

It's no secret that when the summer arrives we make more use of our outdoor facilities. The patio, deck and backyard give way to lawn furniture, grills and planters. When the warmer weather inspires us to gather friends and family in these outdoor spaces for fun and games, one of the things we can plan is an outdoor wine tasting.

Like many barbecue's, all it takes is a theme and everyone plays a part in the line-up of wine and food. Follow along and make your backyard wine tasting the event of the summer.

First the theme, pick a culture that describes a food style. Caribbean, Mediterranean, Spanish, Italian, Australian, Asian? The choices are wide and varied. Next give each guest a dish and a wine to bring along. This will not only surprise but take the work out of doing everything yourself. Stay within a price structure for the wine, i.e. nothing over $20 or $10 limit. Give each guest a flavor and course, such as an appetizer and a dry white, or an entree and a light red, or a dessert and a sparkling. All wine must come wrapped in tin foil, yes tin foil. It chills well, and keeps the label covered. Line up each dish with the wine and mark each item with a letter or number.

Now if you want to be more sophisticated, have a score sheet available for friends to rank their favorites. One being the lowest and 10 being the highest. Rank favorite combinations as well and have guests bring recipe cards in case the food selection is a hit.

Now taste away. You will be surprised how much fun guessing what each wine might be and not knowing the wine will make the discovery that much more fun. Wait until the end to disclose the wines and have a special wine in reserve for your guests when all the secrets are revealed.

To make this more fun, turn the event into a progressive event traveling from home to home for the next course. Good luck and may the best wine win. Ciao