Private events · Tacoma, Seattle & the South Sound
Have people over. I’ll bring the wine.
Sommelier-led tastings for birthdays, dinner parties, showers and the whole month of December. I bring the bottles, the glasses and the teaching — you get to enjoy your own party.
What this actually is
Better than another dinner party
You already know how to feed people. What’s harder is getting a room of eight or twenty to stop making small talk and actually enjoy each other. A tasting does that, because it gives everyone something to do with their hands and something to disagree about. Twenty minutes in, your quietest friend is arguing with your loudest one about whether they smell green pepper.
And because I teach rather than just pour, everyone leaves knowing something they didn’t walk in with. That’s the part people bring up months later, which is more than most parties manage.
Birthdays and milestone years. Showers, engagements and the dinner before the wedding. Friends who’ve been meaning to do something for ages. And December, when everyone hosts at once.
Wherever you’re hosting
Your table, or somebody else’s
You don’t need a dining room that seats twelve or a house you’re proud of. I’ve done this in kitchens, on patios and around a coffee table.
Your home
Dining table, kitchen island, living room floor. I bring everything and take it away again.
Outside
Patio, deck, backyard. Summer evenings are the best this ever looks, and chilled reds are real.
A venue I arrange
If you’d rather not host at home, I have places I work with around Tacoma and Seattle.
A rental house
Weekend away, family reunion, a birthday somebody booked a big house for. I’ll come to it.
The sessions
Three that people ask for by name
How to Taste Like a Somm
90 minutes · 6–30 peopleThe one that changes how people drink for good. We work through the actual tasting grid professionals use — look, smell, taste, decide — and by the end everyone can describe a wine without saying “I like it.” The local favourite, and the best one for a mixed group.
Pop & Pour
90 minutes · 6–30 peopleChampagne, and everything people get wrong about it. Why the bubbles matter, why the good stuff costs what it does, and how to open a bottle without taking someone’s eye out. The obvious one for a birthday, an engagement or New Year.
Wine & Food, Properly
2 hours · 6–20 peoplePairing as a skill rather than a rule book. We taste the same wine against four different things and let the room work out why one of them ruins it. The most hands-on of the three, and the one that generates the most argument.
Not sure which one your people want? Tell me who’s coming and what the occasion is, and I’ll tell you what I’d pour.
What it costs
Simple, and all in
$95
per person · minimum 6 people
Travel within the South Sound included. Further afield, or a venue hire, and I’ll quote it separately — no surprises after the fact.
Every tasting includes
- The wine. Four to six bottles, chosen for your group and the occasion — not whatever’s on offer.
- Proper glassware. Brought and taken away again, so your kitchen doesn’t end the night in ruins.
- Tasting notes for everyone, written by me in plain language rather than wine-speak.
- Me, for the whole thing — teaching, pouring and reading the room.
- Setup and cleanup. You host. I work.
The whole point is that you get to be a guest at your own party.
Who you’re hiring
I’ll be pouring
Twenty years in restaurants, wine sales and on the floor. I hold the WSET Diploma — one step below Master of Wine — and I teach Level 2 here in Tacoma. Champagne is my favourite thing to pour and the thing I’m asked for most.
- DipWSET
- Champagne Master
- 20 years
Before you ask
The questions every host has
How far ahead do I need to book?
Two or three weeks is typically enough. Holiday season and summer book out earliest — if you’re planning a December thing, get it in the diary by October.
Does my house need to be nice?
No. It needs a table, chairs and somewhere to rinse glasses. I’ve poured in half-unpacked kitchens and on folding tables in a garage, and those were good nights.
Some of my friends don’t drink.
Good — tell me numbers and I’ll build it so nobody’s left holding a glass of water. There’s plenty to learn about wine without swallowing any of it, and I bring alternatives so the table still looks like a table.
Do I need to cook?
Not for me. Feed people if you want to — most hosts put something out before or after — but the tasting doesn’t depend on it, and I’d rather you weren’t in the kitchen for it.
What if my numbers change?
They will — people always drop out the week of. Tell me when you know. Small swings are fine; if it drops below six we’ll talk about it rather than me surprising you with an invoice.
How do I pay?
An invoice goes out ahead of the date and is usually due before the event. Tell me early if that timing is awkward and we’ll work something out.
What if we need to move the date?
Tell me as soon as you know and I’ll do everything I can. Dates move — people get sick, plans change, life happens. I’d rather find you a new date than hold you to an old one.
Let’s get it in the diary
Tell me the date and the headcount
That’s all I need to get started. I’ll come back with what I’d pour and what it costs, usually the same day.
Or just email me: kat@zenwineclub.com