Anna and Isabel’s engagement wine tasting in Chelmsford, Essex, had a really good atmosphere from the second people arrived. Ten close friends, loads of noise in the room straight away and sparkling wine all evening, which, to be fair, was a very good decision from them.
When they booked it, they said they wanted the night to feel like a proper celebration without becoming too formal or too over-the-top. They also mentioned not everybody coming along was massively into wine, so the brief from the start was basically to keep it fun, keep it relaxed, and not make anybody feel like they’re sitting an exam.
Honestly, ideal!
We went with the sparkling wine package for the whole evening, and before the first pour, I did a quick toast to the two of them just to get things going. Nothing too serious, just enough to mark the occasion properly before everybody settled in.
Within about twenty minutes, the room was flying.
One of the best parts of the night ended up being a ridiculous ongoing argument between two of the guests over which sparkling wine was the best one. Every round after that basically turned into them trying to recruit people onto their side. The funny thing was, neither of them could actually explain properly why they preferred one over the other; they just absolutely backed themselves.
That sort of became the theme of the evening really. Loads of terrible guesses during the tasting games, people changing their minds halfway through, lots of shouting across the table, and everyone getting more competitive as the wines went on.
And that’s normally when these nights are at their best. Once people stop worrying about saying the wrong thing and just start reacting honestly to the wine, the whole thing relaxes.
Anna said afterwards it was exactly the kind of evening they’d hoped for. Proper celebration atmosphere, but still feeling like their group of friends rather than some staged event.
The following week, Isabel got in touch to order a case of their favourite sparkling wine from the night, and they’re already talking about booking another Wine Night In for their wedding eve gathering as well.
Find out more about hosting your own wine tasting in Chelmsford, Essex.
