Basic requirements are the same for informal, social occasions and more formal professional tastings.
Time
Ideally before a meal; say 11 am or 6pm.
Location
Should be free of intrusive smells (cooking, tobacco smoke, perfumes; tell any helpers/servers) and have a plain white background against which to examine colour. Daylight is ideal; standard bulbs are better than fluorescent tubes if lighting is artificial.
Decanting
Reds with a deposit should be decanted so that all the wine sampled is clear. Presentation Serve wines at appropriate temperatures. To taste "blind", cover bottles and number them.
Order
There is no perfect order, but in principle: white before red; dry before sweet; light before heavy; and lesser before greater.
Glasses
ISO type are best or at least tulip-shaped. One per person for a stand-up tasting, as many as practical for sit-down tastings.
Spittoons
Individual beakers for sit-down tastings, otherwise large shared receptacles: bins or wine-boxes lined with plastic and half-filled with sawdust.
Dry Biscuits
Water; tasting sheets with room for notes; full details of each wine.
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