Category: YOUR TABLE

Planning a party can be enough to give you a headache, never mind the anticipated alcohol-induced one that may follow the next morning. To mitigate any short or long term brain damage when it comes to selecting wine to serve, here is a quick guide to get you through most party scenarios.

How much?

First, you want to determine how much wine to purchase to help set your budget. Depending on how long the event is and any big drinkers you expect to drink you dry, I recommend estimating one bottle of wine for every two people. This may sound like a lot. One typical 750 ml bottle of wine will pour five, five ounce glasses. That’s 2.5 glasses of wine per person. If you plan on serving other drinks, you can cut back on the total number of bottles, but remember that it’s much better to have left over bottles than guests raiding your special stash.

When guests arrive…

Always start with bubbly. Why sparkling wine is often reserved for special occasions is beyond me. Bubbly is fantastic on Tuesday nights. Greeting your guests with sparkling wine should help create a good vibe and relax the crowd. Don’t feel obligated to drain your savings on vintage Champagne. A Prosecco such as the organic Mionetto Prosecco for $20 at Zola Wine will do just fine.

When you’re trying to impress…

Whether you’re having the boss, in-laws or wine snobs over for dinner, you can go one of two ways in your wine selection depending on how much money you’re willing to part with. If the wine cellar in your shore house is not accessible at the moment, I’d recommend purchasing a good quality white Burgundy (Domaine Gérard Thomas Saint-Aubin Premier Cru for $42 at Zola Wine) and a stellar Oregon Pinot Noir (to be safe, steer clear of the 2007 vintage).

If your monthly budget is dominated by rent and student loans, I’d recommend purchasing an obscure, yet tasty, wine that your guests may not be familiar with and that won’t push your credit card over the edge. Gavi from northern Italy can be a fantastic and reasonably priced medium bodied white wine made from the Cortese grape. Principessa Gavia for $17 has a crisp acidity with great minerality and melon notes. Valpolicella from Italy can also be a more affordable option. This wine typically consists of three red grape varietals: Rondinella Corvina and Molinara. Allegrini Valpolicella for $17 has great cherry and violet notes with an acidic and rustic finish. It will be difficult for some to dissect a wine they haven’t had before and you’ll sound impressive after you learn how to pronounce these grapes.

When you’re keeping it casual…

If you’re just looking for an inexpensive wine to plop on the table, please don’t revert to Two Buck Chuck. Not that this is a bad wine (I had a glass by choice a few weeks ago), but as a wine sales woman, it’s my duty to talk you off that ledge. There are so many more affordable options that will expand your palate (now I really sound like a wine snob). At $10 a bottle, Indaba Chenin Blanc from South Africa is incredibly tasty with tropical fruit notes and nice acidity. Also at $10 is Villa d’ Rosso Toscano from Montepulciano, Italy. Red fruit and high acidity – it’s the ultimate pizza wine.

Zola Wine and Kitchen is offering some great cooking classes in the next few months such as Bistro Basics and The Other White Meat. Sign up here today to get some culinary skill under your belt before hosting your next dinner party.

In other exciting news, Zola Wine and Kitchen is set to launch a new wine club. For $100 a month, plus the cost of shipping, members will receive six wines personally selected by Zola Wine Director, Malia Milstead, in addition to exclusive member discounts. Stop by Zola Wine and Kitchen to find out more.

Pairing wine with food (or food with wine if you’re anything like me) may seem like a challenging task, but as long as you live by these basic principles, you likely won’t ruin a perfectly good meal.

1.  Know what you like. This is my number one rule whenever selecting wine. Zinfandel and pizza can go wonderful together, but if you don’t like Zinfandel, you’ll get an epic FAIL off the bat. And how do you learn what type of wines you like? Drink. Drink a lot.

2.  Balance. Think of a justice scale, canoe, seesaw, etc. Imagine a light, fresh summer salad on one side and a big, bold California Cabernet Sauvignon on the other. Cabernet is the fat kid on the seesaw. You should pair light, fresh foods with light, fresh wines (i.e. summer salad with a Sancerre) and dense, heavy foods with equally heavy wines (i.e. baby back ribs with a California Cabernet).

Another way to approach balancing the weight of food with wine is to consider the amount time the food spent cooking. Grilled or steamed foods often call for a lighter style wine while foods that have been roasted or braised for a while would typically need a heavier wine.

3.  Flavor intensity. Now think of a plain baked potato. Not very flavorful. If you chase a forkful of that with an aromatic Viogner, you won’t taste much of that potato. But if you top that potato with herbs, cheese and bacon, you now have a dish that will match the flavor intensity of a more flavorful wine.

4.  Complement or contrast. You can either match specific flavors or contrast flavors when pairing wine with food. One example of complementing the flavors is pairing a medium to heavy Pinot Noir with beef stroganoff. Pinot Noir tends to have earthy, herbal and mushroom notes which complement the ingredients of the dish. Salty or spicy food such as Thai with a sweet wine like Riesling is an example of contrasting flavors.

If you’re still truly stumped, go with a wine that has a lot of acidity. Acidic wines, like New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs, tend to be very food versatile. Acidity is our friend.

For more expert food and wine pairing advice, the beverage director of Stir Food Group is leading a Food and Wine Pairing class at Zola Wine and Kitchen on Wednesday, January 12. Reserve your spot here before it sells out.