Few things are more enjoyable than sipping a glass of wine with your closest friends. Hosting a wine tasting is a unique way that you can do just that, and it enables you and your fellow wine lovers to sample some wines that you may have never tried before. Here are a three tips for pulling off a successful at-home wine tasting.

1. Choose a theme. Choose a theme for each tasting in order to cover all of the different types of wines, such as a Chardonnay night or an afternoon of Pinot Noirs. Tell each of your guests to bring a bottle from a different part of the world, a different year, or a different brand.
2. Prepare the glasses properly. You don’t need to invest in expensive wine glasses, but be sure to provide one glass for each person. Fill the glass an inch below its equator. After tasting one type of wine, rinse the glass with the type of wine you’ll be tasting next in order to rid the glass of traces of the previous wine.
3. Serve snacks. Provide small snacks like cheese, crackers, or delicate cookies to help guests cleanse their palates in between wines and provide some sustenance throughout the evening.

How To Have The Perfect Wine Tasting At Home [HuffPost Taste]
How to Host a Wine Tasting Party [Real Simple]
How to Host a Wine Tasting [Food & Wine]

CC-BY-2.0/Flickr/isante_magazine

If you're a fan of doughnuts, Gourdough's Public House is a must-try. Doughnut sandwiches, doughnut burgers, doughnut entrees, and even doughnut desserts don the menu at this quirky Austin eatery.

Try the Dirty South, a hand-battered chicken fried steak with a potato pancake, gravy, and jam, or opt for the Pig in the Poke, a jalapeno sausage with spicy mustard, peppers, onion, and candied jalapenos. Grandma's Dumplings are a popular favorite; this dish offers chicken and doughnut hole dumplings with pepper vinegar. Salads are even served with a garlic doughnut on the side! Gourdough's Public House hosts a full bar and offers a lively daily happy hour.

Gourdough’s Public House is open 11 a.m. to midnight weekdays, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Saturdays, and 10 a.m. to midnight Sundays.

Gourdough’s Public House
2700 S. Lamar Boulevard
Austin, TX 78704
(512) 912-9070
www.gourdoughspub.com
www.yelp.com/biz/gourdoughs-public-house-austin

CC-BY-SA-2.0/Flickr/MissMessie

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