FoodieAGoGo & Me: Wine Tasting Club Party, Success

Our first wine tasting party worked out great, well enough to contemplate another tasting party. Everyone was asked to bring a bottle of wine, a food pairing for your wine and to have done some research so they could tell the group a little something about the wine they brought so we could all learn. I was a bit nervous because I'm used to being more in control, supplying most of the food and drink and in order for this party to be a success I first needed people to commit, then to show up on time and finally to bring food and drink.

To reduce the stress I decided to start the tasting with a bottle of champagne, this way I could serve something when the first people arrived. Standing around without a drink in your hand, waiting for everyone to arrive to see who brought the lightest wine wouldn't have worked out as well. The first guests arrived starting at 6:45 and the last guests were there by 7:00. To improve it for next time I will plan on having two bottles of champagne on hand so when people arrive they will be greeted with a glass of champagne vs. a tasting.

I did put out some basic snacks beyond my food pairing, so we had some munchies just in case it was a bust. After everyone arrived it looked like we had too much food but surprisingly almost all of it went. I did have some extra Stuffed Dates, Magic Cookie Balls and Hummus that didn't make it out of the fridge but other than that I only tossed about 10 individual appetizer pieces, some hummus and some cheese that didn't look great after sitting out for 10 hours.

The theme of this party was, “Bring your favorite wine, something you have wanted to try or that bottle you have been saving for a special occasion that never seems to arrive”.

As it turned out everyone bought reds, which surprised me. I thought one or two people would have brought white wine but I was not disappointed since reds are my favorite.

The plan was to limit the guest list, 12 people to equal 6 bottles of wine a 2 oz. (4 count) serving of wine per person which is a half of a bottle of wine per person. After talking about it during the party we thought we could have had one, maybe two more couples because not everyone wanted a 2 oz. pour but we also had one non drinker. A 2 oz. pour was a good size taste so it could be less but I think the party would have been less manageable unless two people were pouring. In the end some brought extra bottles of red, two bottles of dessert wines and a port. In total we drank 12 bottles of wine. It turned out to be one of the best parties, it lasted the latest (last person left around 1 or 1:30am) and I was totally sober so I was able to help in the clean up prior to going to bed at 3am.

I did a bit of decorating to bring out the theme and to make it more festive.

I put a runner of brown craft/wrapping paper across the width of my kitchen island.
On the runner I put a piece of cream 8 ½”x11 card stock for each bottle of wine
On top of that a smaller piece of craft paper (3.5”x5”) towards the top of the paper where each wine bottle sat. Not knowing what people were bringing I used three beige squares and three burgundy squares to accommodate for red or white since I didn’t know what people were bringing but have extra colored squares so the square identifies the wine.
I sat out a bowl of wine charms so once someone chose their glass they could identify it. Since I didn’t have enough matching red wine glasses I used white but red glasses would be better because people can swirl.
I filled a tray with wine corks and a basket with I spilled onto the counter.
I put out colored pens and a sheet for each person to rate their wines so they could make notes or write down their favorites to take with them when they left.
I asked people to look up their wine so they could tell us something about it and this is what people did.

Wine notes written on a name card of sorts, a folded 3”L x 1”H piece of card stock, which was then able to sit in front of the bottle of wine on top of the above place mats
Using their iPhone to show the description of the wine. They sat that in front of their bottle which was very clever and gave it a modern vibe. Only problem here was that the screen goes black and you then need to unlock it.
Several people, including myself printed a page describing their wine on an 8.5x11 piece of paper. Notes included the background of the wine, what it pares with, winemaker notes, where it’s from, price, grape sourcing, vintage, wine making notes, flavors and nose, winery information, other producers of this type of wine, definition of the style, a picture of the wine label and a picture of the winery.
Printed on a colored 4.5”x11 piece of paper which included a picture of the label. What I liked here was that this person made multiple copies so that each person could take one if they wanted.
Told a story of when and where they got the wine along with their notes on the wine.

Wines & Pairings

#1 R&D: Big White House Peche Mignon (peach champagne). Paired with a Puff Pastry Caramelized Onion Tart & Puff Pastry breadsticks. I'll publish my recipes in my next post.

#2 C&L: Dusk to Dawn 2013 Pinot Noir. Paired with assorted cheeses (Cypress Grove Chevre Goat Milk cheese, Brillat Savarin Brie cheese and Black Diamond (3yr old) cheddar with crackers.

#3 MT: Williams Selyem 2009 Pinot Noir. Paired with Spicy Calebrese Salami with Cambozola (mild blue cheese), Prociutto with Tallegio (Mild Italian soft cheese), Duck with Sharp Vermont Cheddar, Varzi Salami with Campignon (Brie with mushrooms)